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P75.       'H^^ 


AN 

ORATION 

DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE 

MUNICIPAL    AUTHORITIES 

CITY  OF  BOSTON, 

JULY    5,    1858, 

BY     JOHN     S.     HO 


OP     THE 


TOGETHER      WITH 


THE     SPEECHES     AT     THE     DINNER     IN     FANEUIL     HAL,I<^?5^D     OTHER     CEREMONIES 
AT     THE     CELEBRATION     OF     THE_   /    •  , 


EIGHTY -SECOND     ANNIVERSARY     OF     AMERICAN     INDEl'ltlUmSCE. 


'!?. 


1 


BOSTON: 
GEO.    C.    RAND    AND    AVERY,    CITY    PRINTE 


NO.    3    CORN  II  ILL,  ^VJ^  •,  '\\Wff"////'//^y^/P' 


1858.  ^..       '  m^m 


*"«■*  SCftO*"^ 


^-      /y  ■  J 


^-i^imm'* 


3806 


CITY     OF     BOSTON. 


In  Board  of  Aldermen,  July  7,  1858. 

Ordered  :  That  the  thanks  of  the  City  Council  be,  and  they  are 
hereby  presented  to  John  S.  Holmes,  Esq.,  for  the  very  patriotic  and 
eloquent  Oration  by  him  delivered  before  the  Municipal  Authorities  of 
Boston,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Celebration  of  the  Eighty-second  Anni- 
versary of  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence,  and  that  a  copy 
of  said  Oration  be  requested  for  publication. 

Bead  twice  and  passed.     Sent  down  for  concurrence. 

J.  M.  WIGHTMAN,   Chairman. 


Concurred. 


\ 


Approved,  July  10,  1858. 


In  Common  Council,  July  8,  1858. 
S.  W.  WALDBON,  J-u^rl^esident. 

F.  W.  LINCOLN,  Jk.,  Mayor, 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  was  the  prediction  of  the  patriot  statesman,  John 
AdamS;  that  the  Fourth  day  of  July  would  be  a  memorable 
epocha  in  the  history  of  America,  to  be  celebrated  by  suc- 
ceeding generations  as  the  great  anniversary  festival.  His 
prediction  has  been  verified,  and  the  eighty-second  anni- 
versary of  American  Independence  has  been  celebrated 
throughout  the  land  with  praiseworthy  enthusiasm. 

It  is  the  peculiar  pride  and  honorable  distinction  of  the 
City  of  Boston,  however,  to  have  observed  for  seventy-six 
years  with  appropriate  and  becoming  ceremonies,  each 
recurring  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  liberty  upon  this 
continent. 

In  consideration  of  this  fact,  it  seems  highly  proper  that 
a  more  durable  memorial  of  the  municipal  proceedings  at 
each  successive  celebration  of  this  day  than  the  papers  of 
the  day  afford,  should  be  prepared,  and  that  a  continuous 
ofiicial  record,  from  year  to  year,  should  aid  in  keeping 
alive  those  sentiments  of  patriotism  which  actuated  our 
forefathers  in  obtaining  the  freedom  which  it  is  now  our 
great  privilege  to  enjoy. 


No  previous  celebration,  it  is  believed,  has  been  more 
successful,  or  presented  more  interesting  features  than  the 
present,  whether  we  consider  the  brilliancy  of  the  day,  the 
freedom  from  accidents,  or  the  universal  enjoyment  which 
seemed  to  prevail;  and  it  is  on  this  account  especially  de- 
serving of  remembrance. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  in  the  following  pages  to 
give  anything  more  than  a  correct  report  of  the  oration 
at  the  Music  Hall,  the  speeches  at  the  dinner,  and  a  brief 
and  plain  recital  of  the  interesting  events  of  the  celebra- 
tion, gleaned  from  the  published  accounts  of  the  day, 
assisted  by  personal  recollection. 


ORATION. 


ORATION. 


Fellow-Citizens:  ' 

Eighty-two  years  ago  yesterday,  there  was  assembled 
in  convention  at  Philadelphia  a  body  of  men,  selected 
from  all  the  people  of  the  land,  as  the  foremost  in  in- 
telligence, in  integrity,  and  deliberate  patriotism.  For 
more  than  a  month  the  great  question  of  National 
Independence  had  been,  in  motion  and  resolution,  be- 
fore them;  and  the  hour  had  come  when  the  deter- 
mined wisdom  of  that  convention  was  to  declare  the 
fate  of  the  thirteen  American  Colonies.  The  vigorous 
action  of  Massachusetts,  under  the  quick  memory  of 
her  immediate  wrongs,  and  the  concurrent  will  of  North 
Carolina  —  into  which,  one  by  one,  the  whole  array  of 
the  Colonies  marched,  "keeping  step  to  the  music  of 
the  Union "  —  had  made  it  certain  that  no  weak  opin- 
ion, no  unmanly  counsel,  would  rule  the  hour  that 
governed  the  destiny  of  the  country.  The  day  had 
come.  Groups  of  grave  men  gathered  anxiously  about 
the  old  hall  where  that  Congress  sat.     That  morning 


10 

the  calm  face  of  woman  was  troubled^  and  startled  chil- 
dren stared  in  vacant  wonder,  their  toys  idle  in  their 
hands.  All  were  in  expectant  waiting  for  that  great 
action  by  which  a  nation  should  be  established  among 
the  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  Not  that  any  one  feared 
that  the  ultimate  result  would  not  be  a  Declaration  of 
Freedom ;  but  until,  one  by  one,  the  members  of  that 
convention  had  written  themselves  down  —  traitors 
against  tyranny,  heroes  in  all  patriotism  —  there  was 
the  lingering  fear,  incident  to  the  uncertainty  of  human 
events,  that  it  might  not  be.  It  was  done.  The  old 
bell  in  the  State  House  at  Philadelphia  "  rang  out  the 
first  peal  of  American  liberty;"  the  bells  of  an  hundred 
spires  caught  the  sound ;  it  was  flung  by  myriad  voices 
on  the  listening  air,  and  village  and  town,  as  the  sound 
rushed  on,  lifted  higher  the  cry,  till  the  whole  land 
became  vocal  with  the  word  —  Liberty.  Every  twelve- 
month from  that  day,  the  grand  echo  of  that  national 
voice  has  been  heard  throughout  America.  From  the 
icy,  granitic  North,  down  through  the  savannas  of  the 
tropic  South ;  from  the  eastern  wave  of  the  Atlantic, 
to  the  shore  of  the  far  Pacific ;  from  a  thousand  great 
cities,  from  ten  thousand  great  towns ;  by  the  hills  of 
New  England ;  along  the  Alleghanies ;  against  the 
rocky  battlements  of  our  western  coast  —  that  echo  has 
been  sounded  again  and  again.  To-day  we  hear  it; 
and  to-day  we  lift  up  our  solemn  acclaim,  and  give  the 
energy  of  our  hearts  and  voices  to  that  majestic  sound 


11 

which  shall  ring  in  equal  and  repeated  reverberations 
over  this  land  —  as  we  devoutly  pray,  as  we  truly 
believe  —  until  the  strength  of  the  hills  shall  wither, 
and  the  great  seas  shall  perish,  and  human  freedom 
shall  be  lost  in  a  higher  and  nobler  creation. 

On  this  day  of  national  rejoicing  —  the  only  day  in 
the  whole  year  when  we  cease  to  be  individuals,  and 
become  Americans,  forgetful  of  local  prejudice  and 
wrong,  and  party  and  sectional  strife,  to  mingle  in  a 
common  gratitude,  and  to  share  a  common  pride  in 
the  great,  unexampled  prosperity  of  the  whole  land  — 
on  this  day,  as  nothing  can  be  dearer  to  us  than  the 
continuance  of  that  national  prosperity,  which  depends, 
under  God,  upon  the  union  of  these  States,  I  propose 
briefly  to  consider  some  of  the  dangers  tvhich  threaten 
the  staUlity  of  the  Union. 

Although  the  American  Colonies  were  separated  from 
England  not  more  by  distance  than  by  substantial 
differences  in  polity,  manners,  and  religion,  yet  the 
sentiment  of  the  Colonies,  until  the  close  of  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  was  one  of  strong,  unwavering  loyalty 
to  that  great,  venerable  nation.  The  Americans  were 
proud  of  their  ancestry,  proud  of  "  the  mighty  living 
and  the  mighty  dead "  —  of  the  glory  of  their  arms, 
the  magnificence  of  their  literature  —  proud  even  of 
the  faults  and  weaknesses  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  char- 
acter—  and  not  lightly  or  easily  were  the  bonds  loosed 
that  held  them  together.     As  the  rooted  fibres  of  the 


12 

cornel  and  myrtle,  which  grew  out  of  the  body  and 
grave  of  Polydorus,  wept  purple  blood  as  they  were 
rudely  broken,  so  one  by  one  the  ties  of  allegiance, 
of  friendship,  of  pride,  of  power,  between  England  and 
America,  were  severed  by  the  angry  folly  of  Grenville 
and  Townsend  and  North  —  the  Parcse  of  the  reign 
of  George  the  Third  —  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  both 
countries  were  greatly  saddened  and  disturbed.  Even 
after  long  and  bitter  irritation  —  after  the  revival  of 
the  Navigation  Act ;  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act ; 
the  tax  on  paper  and  glass  and  tea ;  the  Boston  Port 
Bill ;  the  Boston  Massacre ;  the  struggle  at  Lexington 
and  Concord ;  aye,  even  after  that  glorious  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  whose  name  is  like  the  blast  of  a  trumpet 
—  after  thirteen  long  years  of  "  patient  sufferance  of 
an  attempt  to  establish  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these 
States ; "  after  enduring  all  the  wrongs  and  outrages 
which  the  Declaration  of  Independence  so  vigorously 
sets  forth  —  after  all  these,  the  Continental  Congress 
presented  a  petition  to  his  most  excellent  Majesty,  pro- 
fessing that  "  they  were  attached  to  his  person,  family, 
and  government,  with  all  the  devotion  that  principle 
and  affection  could  inspire,"  "  and  most  ardently  de- 
sired, not  only  that  the  former  harmony  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  Colonies  might  be  restored,  but  that 
a  concord  might  be  established  between  them  on  so 
firm  a  basis  as  to  perpetuate  its  blessings,  uninterrupted 
by  any  future  dissensions,  to   succeeding  generations 


13 

in  both  countries^  and  to  transmit  his  Majesty's  name 
to  posterity  adorned  with  a  signal  and  lasting  glory." 
Great  Stated  stood  still  —  great  and  good  men  hesitated, 
as  the  final  hour  approached  —  the  people  were  reluc- 
tant to  speak  the  last  stern  word  which  put  England 
away  forever  —  but  with  the  lofty  cOurage  of  great 
minds,  "  appealing  to  Heaven  to  attest  the  justness  of 
their  cause/'  the  Declaration  was  made  and  uttered 
with  a  voice  that  startled  the  world,  "  that  these  Col- 
onies were  joined  in  one  body  for  the  preservation  of 
the  liberties  of  America,"  and  thus  the  last  lingering 
sentiment  of  loyalty  was  utterly  extinguished.  There 
then  sprang  up  in  the  American  mind  the  latent  sen- 
timent of  Patriotism  —  the  love  of  country  as  such  — 
that  firm  devotion  to  her  being,  her  authority,  her 
happiness,  which  has  made  the  names  of  Adams^  and 
Otis,  and  Jefferson,  and  Patrick  Henry,  and  Hancock, 
household  words  among  us  —  words  of  beauty,  words 
of  power.  There  then  sprang  up  in  full  life  and 
strength  "  the  sympathy  of  race  "  —  the  sympathy  to 
which  every  American  felt  himself  united  to  his  coun- 
trymen in  every  fortune  and  for  any  destiny.  This 
was  the  moving  force  of  the  Kevolution.  This  nerved 
the  father  as  he  looked  for  the  last  time  in  the  face 
of  her  whose  smile  was  the  brightness  of  his  home 
and  his  life ;  this  stilled  the  voice  and  dried  the  eye 
of  the  mother  as  she  buckled  the  belt  aroimd  the  boy 
she  had  borne  beneath  and  ever  in  her  heart;  this 


14 

broke  every  pride  and  bent  every  purpose  to  the  one 
great^  solemn  thought  of  freedom.  After  long  toil, 
and  suffering,  and  many  battles,  America,  "  with  native 
honor  clad,"  stood  independent,  sovereign,  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  Her  Constitution  was  established 
in  doubt,  in  some  danger;  but  the  patriotic  temper 
of  that  day  yielded  to  compromise  for  a  greater,  for 
the  common,  good  —  that  which  could  not  be  won 
by  violence  —  and  that  great  political  miracle  was 
wrought,  which  no  foreigner  but  De  Tocqueville  has 
understood  or  interpreted,  of  a  combination  of  villages 
and  counties  and  States  all  independent  and  self- 
dependent,  yet  all  resting  each  on  the  other,  and  all 
alike  poised  on  one  great  central  force.  This  delicate 
adjustment  of  powers  and  rights  has  borne  the  jars 
and  tumults  of  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  century,  and 
yet  moves  well.  But  there  are  signs  of  a  decay  of 
the  spirit  of  American  Kevolutionary  patriotism.  The 
general  weakness  of  the  country,  thoroughly  impov- 
erished by  the  long  war  with  England,  and  the  lust 
of  wealth  excited  by  an  open  trade  with  the  world, 
early  gave  a  strong  commercial  impulse  to  this  people, 
which  has  widened  and  deepened,  as  the  triumph 
of  our  arms,  and  the  more  peaceful  triumphs  of  our 
naval  architecture,  have  enlarged  the  extent  and  power 
of  our  commercial  enterprise.  We  have  grown  to  be 
the  first  commercial  nation  in  the  earth.  We  hence 
have  grown  to  be  a  pecuniary  people  —  loving  money  — 


15 


bending  the  best  energies  of  our  lives  to  its  accumu- 
lation—  sacrificing  youth  and  health  and  strength  to 
the  pursuit  of  gain.  It  is  true  that  in  this  pursuit 
many  great  virtues  have  been  developed — (the  honest 
merchant  and  the  agriculturist  are  the  best  citizens 
of  a  State)  —  it  is  true  that  by  it  many<  great  energies 
have  been  stirred.  It  has  made  the  American  an 
universal  man,  so  that  wherever  a  man  can  go,  he  will 
go ;  whatever  a  man  can  bear,  he  will  suffer ;  whatever 
a  man  can  do,  he  will  attempt.  By  this  commercial 
spirit  broad  States  have  been  created,  and  the  bounds 
of  our  empire  stretched  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  But 
it  tells  upon  the  patriotism  of  the  people.  It  tends 
to  reduce  everything  to  a  commercial  standard;  to 
measure  everything  by  its  present  availability ;  to  give 
principles  and  men  a  market  value ;  and  has  even  led 
some  to  estimate  the  price,  the  cost  of  maintaining 
the  mother  of  us  all  —  the  Union  of  the  American 
States.  It  makes  us  niggardly  in  the  performance  of 
our  duties  to  the  State.  It  prefers  individual  comfort 
and  thrift  to  public  prosperity.  It  is  impatient  of  the 
restraints  of  public  service.  It  tends  to  the  establish- 
ment of  an  aristocracy  of  wealth,  which  is  dangerous 
to  the  State,  as  it  is  necessarily  mean,  selfish,  and  ag- 
gressive, and  rests  upon  such  distinctions  and  differ- 
ences in  society  as  are  directly  antagonistic  to  the  first 
principles  of  democracy.  We  do  not  spurn  riches,  if 
they  come  as  the  well-earned  gain  of  honesty,  courage, 


16 

and  intelligence,  as  they  are  the  result  of  labor,  the 
fair  recompense  of  energy  and  integrity;  but  when 
wealth  becomes  the  end  instead  of  the  means  of  the 
life  of  a  man  or  a  nation,  it  irritates,  it  degrades,  it 
corrupts.  ^^A  mercantile  democracy,"  says  Landor, 
speaking  through  Panoetius,  "may  govern  long  and 
widely;  a  mercantile  aristocracy  cannot  stand."  For 
the  duties  of  all  citizens  are  equal,  as  all  have  equal 
rights ;  and  when  aught  makes  a  man  prefer  his 
personal  ease  or  good  to  that  of  the  State,  and  to  re- 
pose upon  eminent  respectability  away  from  but  not 
above  the  people,  or  his  duty  to  the  people,  and  to 
consider  that  paying  for  government  is  quite  enough 
for  him,  without  the  trouble  and  discomfort  of  attend- 
ing the  assemblages  of  the  people,  or  of  mingling  in 
the  crowd  at  the  polls,  or  losing  time,  money,  or  pride, 
in  acting  the  part  of  a  true  republican  —  whatever 
does  this,  destroys  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  and  loosens 
the  bonds  of  social  order,  and  delivers  the  State  to  a 
certain  doom.  If  the  men  of  eighty-two  years  ago 
thought  thus,  felt  thus,  acted  thus,  where  should  we 
be  now — "  under  which  king  ?  "  The  old  silver — the 
household  treasure  —  the  garnered  clothing  —  the  se- 
cret comforts  of  a  thousand  homes,  were  given  to  the 
first  year  of  Revolutionary  strife :  and  by  the  contribu- 
tions of  women  and  children  the  American  army  was 
often  sustained  and  saved.  Our  government  is  to 
be  preserved  by  a  like  temper.     We  must  remember 


17 

that  there  is  no  public  gathering  of  American  citizens^ 
into  which  the  proudest  may  not  enter  with  a  more 
than  Athenian  pride;  that  there  is  no  question  that 
concerns  our  poHtical  state  so  small  that  it  may  not 
command  the  respect  and  attention  of  the  highest 
mind  ;  that  there  is  no  office  among  freemen  so  lowly 
that  it  may  not  bring  honor  to  him  who  holds  it ; 
that  there  is  no  public  duty  that  does  not  challenge 
our  best  endeavor  and  our  quickest  obedience. 

A  painful  illustration  of  the  decay  of  patriotism 
among  us  is  found  in  the  irreverent  tendency  of  the 
time  —  our  careless  indifference  to  the  associations 
and  memory  of  the  past. 

The  present,  burdened  with  its  instant  cares,  attracts 
our  attention.  We  have  little  reverence  for  those 
events  or  persons  not  immediately  useful  to  our  present 
happiness  or  purpose.  We  are  oblivious  of  our  obli- 
gations to  that  past  upon  which  our  greatness  and 
prosperity  rest.  The  grand  story  of  American  History 
was  begun  before  we  were  born,  and  the  great  men 
who  were  its  chief  actors  and  narrators  have  been 
gathered  to  their  noble  reward.  We  stand  just  outside 
of  the  personal  authority  of  those  great  captains  and 
statesmen,  and  are  blindly,  foolishly  indifferent  to  the 
influence  of  their  names  and  actions,  as  moving  the 
power  of  association  —  one  of  the  subtlest,  strongest 
forces  that  can  stir  the  human  heart  and  life.  We  all 
feel  it,  but  we  do  not  recognize  its  importance  enough 


18 

to  give  it  a  permanent  presence.  Who  ever  returned 
to  the  old  roof-tree  after  years  of  absence,  and  did  not 
cross  the  old  threshold  with  a  hearty  benediction  — 
who  ever  wandered  among  the  graves  of  kinsmen  and 
friends,  and  did  not  feel  his  eyelids  grow  heavy  with 
the  tribute  of  grateful  tears  —  who  ever  stood  where 
men  have  wrought  great  deeds  in  love  of  our  common 
humanity  or  for  "country,  God,  and  truth,"  and  did  not 
feel  his  heart  move  with  an  unselfish  nobleness  kindred 
to  theirs  —  who  ever  stood  beside  the  grave  of  Wash- 
ington, and  did  not  feel  the  "  warm  gale  and  gentle 
ventilation"  of  the  breath  of  the  spirit  of  Liberty, 
pronouncing  the  high  duty  and  destiny  of  the  true 
American  citizen  ?  And  yet  what  have  we  reallt/  pre- 
served to  ourselves  and  our  children  of  that  treasure 
"  which  cannot  be  valued  with  the  gold  of  Ophir,  with 
the  precious  onyx,  or  the  sapphire  ?  "  Where  are  our 
memorials  of  the  great  past  ?  To-day^  the  very  tomb 
of  the  Father  of  this  Country  is  a  thing  of  bargain 
and  sale  between  the  miserly  descendant  of  a  great 
name  and  the  eloquence  of  Massachusetts,  uttering 
words  that  throb  in  the  hearts  of  the  matronly  pride 
and  maidenly  beauty  of  South  Carolina  and  Virginia. 
Where  is  the  tomb  of  the  elder  Adams,  the  Nestor  of 
the  Revolution  ?  Whose  feet  have  worn  a  path  to  it  ? 
The  grave  of  the  great  Jefferson  lies  still  and  unfre- 
quented as  the  grave  of  a  village  hind.  Monroe  till 
this  hour  lingered  in  a  borrowed  tomb.     The  "Old 


19 


man  eloquent,"  the  Spartan  son  of  this  State,  slumbers 
beside  his  father,  and  shares  the  common  forgetfulness 
of  his  greatness.  The  remains  of  Samuel  Adams  lie 
under  the  sidewalk  of  Tremont  street,  and  shake  beneath 
the  tread  of  unthinking  thousands.  The  bones  of  Wil- 
liam Wirt  moulder  in  the  graveyard  at  Washington,  as 
unmarked  as  the  ashes  of  Marshal  Ney.  Franklin, 
whose  intellect  circles  the  world  every  hour,  is  hidden 
in  a  recess  of  the  Arch  street  burial-place  in  Philadel- 
phia. And  while  I  speak,  a  great,  sovereign  State  is 
searching  for  the  body  of  its  best  hero,  whose  words 
were  deeds  ;  whose  life  was  spent  in  the  name  of 
Almighty  God  and  the  Continental  Congress.  How 
think  you  the  spirit  of  the  past  is  to  be  preserved 
among  us?  Greece  had  her  Marathon  and  Platea, 
and  kept  them  by  her  perpetual  tribute  to  the  great- 
ness of  the  dead  and  the  lofty  honors  she  gave  to  the 
living.  Kome  had  her  temples  and  triumphal  arches, 
and  gorgeous  processions,  and  crowns  of  laurel,  and 
statues  of  heroes  —  "  the  monuments  of  former  great- 
ness and  pledges  of  future  glory,"  and  through  these 
kept  clear  and  strong  the  vestal  fire  of  her  patriotism, 
and  perished  only  when  her  sons  forgot  the  State  and 
became  selfish  followers  of  personal  vice.  "  The  Swiss 
peasants  for  fi\e  hundred  years  after  their  independ- 
ence," says  Alison,  "  assembled  on  the  fields  of  Mort- 
garten  and  Laupen,  and  spread  garlands  over  the 
graves  of  their   fallen  warriors,  and   prayed  for  the 


20 

souls  of  those  who  had  died  for  their  country's  free- 
dom." France  has  her  great  Hotel  des  Invalides  and 
her  Legion  of  Honor,  and  every  Frenchman  turns  to 
the  tomb  of  Napoleon  when  he  thinks  of  France,  as  the 
devout  Arab  turns  in  prayer  toward  the  tomb  of  Ma_ 
hornet.  England  has  her  Westminster  Abbey,  where 
lies  the  dust  of  an  hundred  trophied  generations  of 
greatness.  But  where  are  our  memorials  of  the 
great  Past  ?  There  is  Faneuil  Hall  —  there  is  Bunker 
Hill  with  its  monument  —  hut  luJiere  are  all  the  rest  ?  It 
is  idle  to  say  that  our  schools  and  colleges  and  institu- 
tions are  the  only  adequate  representations  of  the 
power  of  Freedom,  and  that  he  who  would  love 
America  must  linger  among  these  and  learn  her  great- 
ness from  her  present  happy  prosperity.  Not  so  —  this 
is  but  the  fruit  of  that  harvest  long  ago  sown  in  tears 
and  blood  — this  is  but  the  benign  result  of  a  labor 
earlier  and  stronger  than  ours.  The  Present  rests  upon 
the  Past  —  the  Future  rises  out  of  it.  If  we  would  be 
true-hearted,  pure-hearted  Americans,  we  must  honor 
and  revere  the  great  events  and  names  that  dignify  the 
Past.  We  must  raise  statues  and  monuments  and 
celebrate  the  birthdays  of  the  great  men  and  great 
events  of  that  time,  and  fill  the  land  with  constant  rev- 
erence for  their  greatness.  We  must  so  speak  of  them 
that  our  children  may  learn  to  emulate  the  patriotism 
of  our  fathers,  and  that  the  strangers  within  our 
gates,  who  come  hither  with  a  full  memory  of  the 


21 

honors  that  are  heaped  in  the  Old  World  upon  its 
bravest  and  best  —  of  the  triumphs  that  welcomed  its 
Nelson^  and  the  sorrows  that  deplored  its  Wellington — • 
may  find  here  in  the  true  land  of  heroes,  a  higher  and 
nobler  appreciation  of  human  worth,  and  a  purer  and 
more  grateful  recognition  of  the  labor  it  has  accom- 
plished. 

Another  danger  to  the  republic  arises  from  a  mis- 
conception of  the  office  and  end  of  government.  It 
has  been  said  that  the  best  government  is  one  that  has 
the  fewest  laws.  It  would  be  better  to  say  that  the 
best  government  was  one  under  which  the  people  were 
most  prompt  in  obedience,  most  sincere  in  allegiance 
to  the  law,  for  there  never  was  a  permanently  good 
government  with  permanently  bad  subjects.  The  fun- 
damental idea  of  the  American  government  is  rev- 
erence to  law.  The  Puritans  came  here  because  they 
regarded  certain  laws  of  God  as  they  interpreted  them 
to  be  higher  and  more  authoritative  than  certain  laws 
of  man.  They  reverenced  the  one  too  much  to  live 
in  disobedience  to  the  other,  so  they  came  here,  as 
their  first  declaration  says,  "  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith,"  and  erected  a 
form  of  government  that  has  been  scarcely  modified  in 
this  State  since  their  time.  Obedience  to  the  divine 
law  was  the  basis  of  that  government;  they  framed 
their  rules  of  human  conduct  with  direct  reference  to 
man's  spiritual  allegiance.     There  was  great,  moment- 


22 


ous  reason  in  the  stern,  undoubting  belief  of  the 
Puritan  that  all  power  is  of  God,  and  is  to  be  revered 
as  becomes  its  high  origin  —  that  law  is  but  an  exhibi- 
tion or  exemplification  of  that  power,  and  that  obe- 
dience to  it  is  a  necessary  part  of  moral  duty.  We 
have  wandered  far  from  this  belief  The  idea  of  many 
now  is  that  government  is  altogether  a  human  institu- 
tion, created,  sustained  by  the  people,  and  that  they, 
as  the  source  and  fountain  of  political  power,  are 
supreme.  It  is  now  held  that  obedience  to  and  rever- 
ence of  government  are  to  be  determined  always  and 
only  by  individual  taste  and  judgment,  from  which 
there  is  no  appeal. 

But  when  and  where  did  that  great  convention 
meet,  which  by  solemn  vote  declared  that  govern- 
ment would  be  useful,  and  that  it  was  proper  and 
expedient  that  it  should  be  established  among  men  ? 
Man  was  not  shipwrecked  into  this  world  like  a 
political  Eobinson  Crusoe,  and  left  to  find  out  by 
strategy  and  device  how  to  live.  When  two  people 
stood  together  on  the  earth,  government  was  estab- 
lished —  by  a  necessity  of  nature  —  by  a  divine  de- 
cree anterior  to  conventions  and  constitutions,  stronger 
than  all  parchments  —  and  man  cannot  escape  from, 
though  he  may  violate  that  decree.  Keckless  passion 
may  overturn  government  ;  anarchy  may  rule  the 
hour :  but  the  excess  of  anarchy  compels  the  reestab- 
lishment    of   government  —  the    excess    of    popular 


23 

passion    imperatively   demands    order.      The    French 
Revolution    ended   in    a   despotic   rule  —  the    riotous 
lawlessness   of  vagabonds    and    villains   in    California 
compelled    the    institution    of   an    orderly  and   quiet 
government.     With  us  government  is  impossible  unless 
it  controls  the  will  and  commands  the  respect  of  the 
people.      For  ours  is  a  government  of  law,  and  only 
of  law.     We  never  see  government  except  as  it  exe- 
cutes  the   authority   of    law  —  it    arrests,    imprisons, 
punishes    those    who    disobey   it,    but    otherwise    we 
never  see  its  palpable  presence  —  it  is  a  sword  in  the 
sheath  —  it  is  lightning  hid  in  the  cloud.     No  armed 
bands,  no  troop  of  gorgeous  menials,  no  titled  lackeys, 
no   regal    retinue,   no   stately   presence    commanding 
the  obedience  of  the   hand   or  knee,  meet  our  eyes  ; 
but  one   man  —  the   greatest   among  us  —  looks  like 
his  fellows,  and  every  one  goes  his  own  way  and  does 
his    own    pleasure    and    selects   his   own   rulers,   and 
honors  whom  he  likes,  and  reposes  with  absolute  faith 
under    the   invisible    but   dreadful    authority  of  law, 
which  surrounds  him  like  a  political  providence,  and 
holds  every  man,  the  lowest  equally  with  the  highest, 
within  its  beneficent  keeping.      Hence,  whatever  dis- 
turbs the  reverence  of  and  obedience  to  law   in   this 
republic  threatens  its  stability.     The  two  great  dan-, 
gers  which  lie   in  and  express  the   common  miscon- 
ception of  the  office  and  end  of  government  are — • 
the  one,  on   the  part  of  goverment  itself  —  the  en- 


24 

deavor  to  extend  and  maintain  its  authority  by 
yielding  to  apparent  popular  feeling  and  prejudice ; 
the  other  —  the  opinion  on  the  part  of  the  people 
that  government  was  created  by  them  and  for  them 
—  to  hew  their  wood  and  draw  their  water  —  to  suit 
every  man's  purpose^  and  subserve  every  man's  con- 
venience. The  sagacity  of  the  wisest  of  every  nation 
but  ours  has  kept  some  things  in  mysterious  secrecy, 
has  flung  a  holy  awe  about  places  and  persons  and 
events,  "'or  has  hedged  them  round  with  a  divinity 
none  dare  penetrate.  To  us  all  things  are  open. 
We  see  the  wheels  impinging  on  wheels,  and  look 
along  the  dizzy  line  of  motion  till  we  find  to  what 
end  all  this  power  moves  —  whether  it  be  to  a  State 
honor  or  in  a  national  sympathy  —  whether  it  turns 
this  man  out  and  that  man  in  —  whether  it  revolves 
half  a  man  into  the  fraction  of  a  senator,  or  twirls 
a  great  statesman  out  of  a  great  place  for  one  whose 
absence  is  more  eloquent  than  any  other  man's 
presence.  Hence,  if  those  who  stand  in  the  names 
and  dignity  of  the  State  or  nation  forget  their  place 
and  duty,  the  authority  of  government  is  directly, 
visibly  disgraced.  I  appeal  not  to  party  feeling  on 
this  day,  but  remember  how  often  and  how  much 
your  faith  in,  and  reverence  for,  those  in  the  best  and 
most  honorable  positions  has  been  shaken  by  their 
base  subservience  to  prejudice  and  their  cowardly 
indifference  to  duty  ;    remember  how  often  this  has 


25 

been  made,  both  in  State  and  nation,  a  government 
of  men,  instead  of  a  government  of  law  and  for  law. 
This  degradation  of  place  and  power,  I  call  a  mis- 
conception of  the  office  and  end  of  government.  I 
could,  but  will  not,  call  it  a  harsher  name,  though 
no  man  ever  bent  the  authority  entrusted  to  him 
to  private  or  party  purposes  without  deserving  the 
traitor's  doom  and  the  traitor's  fate ;  and  no  man  can, 
while  he  plays  with  the  narrow  guile  and  uses  the  foxy 
craft  of  a  politician,  stand  in  a  position  of  public 
honor  without  deserving  that  doom  and  daring  that 
fate.  Whatever  planks  are  hereafter  put  into  those 
platforms  or  rafts  by  which  men  endeavor  to  escape 
from  a  sinking  party,  I  devoutly  hope  that  these  may  be 
firmly  nailed  —  that  no  mere  politician  shall  be  deemed 
worthy  of  any  office,  and  that  no  man  who  cannot 
and  does  not  earn  an  honest  living  outside  of  politics 
and  party  shall  have  an  honest  man's  vote  for  any 
place  of  public  trust,  profit,  or  power.  Away  with 
the  herd  of  common  suppliants  for  popular  favor  — 
away  with  the  mob  of  those  who  take  to  politics  as 
the  last  resort  of  lazy  dishonesty  —  away  with  the 
crowd  of  garrulous  boys  who  talk  themselves  into 
sweet  favor  with  enthusiastic  girls,  (and  hence,  it  may 
be,  into  Congress,)  —  away  with  all  hangers-on  of 
party,  of  all  parties  —  camp  followers  who,  avoiding 
all  danger,  gather  their  plunder  amid  the  strife  of 
battle,  and  thrive  upon  the  destinies  of  better  men. 


26 

Let  us  have  only  good  men  and  true  men  in  place. 
Following  the  noble  injunction  of  the  pious  Eobinson, 
the  spiritual  father  of  the  Puritans^  "  Let  your  wis- 
dom and  godliness  appear  by  choosing  such  persons 
only  as  do  entirely  love  and  will  diligently  promote 
the  common  good."  Thus  shall  we  strangle  the 
brood  of  vipers  that  crawl  about  the  cradle  of  our 
liberty  —  thus  shall  we  utterly  destroy  one  form  of 
the  danger  which  threatens  us. 

Again,  the  people  have  learned  to  regard  govern- 
ment as  a  private  power  to  be  used  by  the  citizens 
and  for  the  citizens,  forgetful  that  the  State  is  more 
than,  higher  than  the  citizen,  and  that  he  has  but 
the  right  of  one,  and  can  give  but  the  allegiance 
and  reverence  of  one.  She  carries  all  in  her  great, 
generous  heart,  and  must  give  to  all  equally  a 
mother's  gracious  love  and  care.  Hence,  as  our 
feelings  or  passions  inspire  us,  we  seek  to  make  gov- 
ernment a  great  agricultural  society,  or  a  great  tem- 
perance society,  or  a  great  anti-slavery  society,  or  a 
great  humanitarian  organization,  as  best  serves  the 
occasion  of  the  hour,  or  best  suits  our  prevailing  pur- 
pose. But  government  has  no  such  office  or  duty. 
It  is  designed  only  for  the  protection  of  social  order, 
by  keeping  one  man  from  wrongfully  interfering  with 
another,  and  by  binding  all  in  love  and  reverence 
to  one  common  centre  of  authority.  If  government 
attempts  more,  it  trespasses  upon  personal  or  religious 


27 


rights,  over  which  it  has  no  legitimate  control.  For 
as  man  has  a  nature  with  social  relations,  so  he  has 
a  soul  with  higher  and  infinite  relations,  which  can 
never  be  confounded  the  one  with  the  other ;  and 
national  and  State  governments,  as  they  have  author- 
ity only  over  the  one,  cannot  interfere  with  the  other 
without  great  wrong  and  danger.  There  is  a  higher 
than  human  law  which  supremely  governs  our  direct 
relations  to  God ;  there  is  no  law  higher  or  more 
authoritative  than  human  law  to  govern  our  social 
and  political  state.  But  all  laws  are  equally  derived 
from  one  source,  and  rest  in  a  common  authority; 
for  the  essence  of  human  law  is  as  that  of  the  divine 
law  —  't  is  but  the  rule  of  order  —  the  direction  of 
human  freedom  in  obedience  to  order,  and  you  cannot 
wrongfully  disturb  a  man's  obedience  to  the  one  with- 
out harming  his  reverence  for  the  other.  If  we  do 
not  regard  the  law  as  it  stands,  if  we  do  not  regard 
it  as  law,  we  offend  against  the  State,  we  offend 
against  the  nation,  we  offend  against  God.  Not  that 
I  would  say  all  laws  are  just  —  that  tyranny  and 
wickedness  may  not  have  often  declared  that  to 
be  right  which  is  positively  wrong.  But  there  is 
given  to  every  people  an  ultimate  authority  over 
law ;  with  some  it  is  the  last  stern  necessity  — 
the  "  ultima  ratio  "  —  revolution  ;  with  us,  it  is  in  the 
ballot-box.  If  a  law  offends  you,  change  it  by  the 
pure  force  of  public  will.     If  enough  are  not  agreed, 


28 

"bide  your  time" — it  will  come  if  truth  and  right 
demand  it  —  and  then  change  the  law  for  the  better. 
But  stir  no  useless  anger^  array  no  merely  factious 
opposition,  lest  you  bring  upon  yourselves  a  greater 
evil  than  you  deprecate  —  a  disregard  of  all  law  — 
a  contempt  of  all  authority  —  an  irreverent  and  un- 
patriotic spirit  toward  the  great,  the  8ole  foundation 
of  this  State  and  of  all  the  States  —  which  is  the 
law  of  the  land. 

A  pregnant  illustration  of  the  popular  feeling  about 
government  is  found  in  the  increasing  desire  that 
the  judicial  office  be  made  elective.  It  was  a  singu- 
larly happy  thought  —  rather,  it  was  a  sagacious 
prophecy  of  future  danger  —  which  led  to  the  three- 
fold separation  of  the  power  of  government  into  the 
Executive,  Representative  and  Judicial  branches  — 
each  as  distinct  as  hand,  and  eye,  and  will,  yet  all 
agreeing  in  a  common  purpose  —  to  keep  and  pro- 
tect the  liberty  of  the  State  and  of  all  the  States. 
This  grand  distinction  among  the  powers  and  duties  of 
government  has  been  lost  in  the  partisan  discussion 
and  action  of  the  day.  It  has  even  here,  in  the 
old,  revered  Bay  State  —  ever  the  last  to  lend  her- 
self to  that  which  did  not  concern  the  common  good 
—  been  attempted  that  our  judges  should  be  elected 
by  the  people,  and  for  a  limited  time.  This  I  regard 
as  the  boldest  attack  upon  the  true  liberties  of  the 
people  for  an  hundred  years.     Who,  of  all  the  honored 


29 

men  that  have  borne  the  title  of  judge  in  this  State, 
from  the  eldest  till  now,  but  has  kept  his  intelligence 
and  integrity  pure  and  strong  for  the  common  ben- 
efit of  all  ?  Who  has  degraded  himself  and  stained 
with  dishonor  the  lofty  seat  he  has  filled  ?  And 
yet  those  who  have  the  greatest  fear  of  the  law,  as 
they  best  deserve  its  righteous  penalties  —  the  poli- 
ticians of  this  State,  and  equally  thus  in  other  States 
—  are  endeavoring  to  bring  to  the  market  the  office 
of  judge,  and  to  put  the  judicial  ermine  upon  a  level 
with  the  skin  of  a  rabbit.  Within  our  memories 
have  incompatibilities  been  found  where  none  existed, 
and  offices  confounded,  and  places  given  to  fools  that 
had  before  been  filled  by  honored  wisdom.  If  we 
surrender  this,  the  chief  —  I  may  say  the  only  — 
conservative  part  of  government,  to  those  who  are 
seeking  for  selfish  ends  to  pervert  government  to 
their  own  uses  and  the  prosperity  of  party,  let  us 
know  —  let  us  ever  remember  —  that  we  are  parting 
the  strongest  bower-anchor  of  the  Constitution  — 
that  we  are  breaking  in  pieces  the  truest  compass, 
and  flinging  to  the  winds  the  best  chart  of  the  noble 
old  ship.  Let  Justice  descend  from  her  pedestal  — 
let  her  eyes  discern  between  the  well-favored  and 
homely  —  let  her  scales  be  jostled  in  the  crowd  — 
and  how  long  will  men  trust  her  decisions  ?  how 
reverently  will  they  repose  under  her  authority  ? 
No  ;    better   far   destroy   your    household   gods   than 


30 

despoil  the  Temple  of  Public  Justice.  You  may 
weep  in  sorrow  over  them  ;  but  a  nation  —  the  world 
—  feels  the  profanity  of  that  touch.  You  may  burn 
your  own  little  handful  of  books ;  but  fire  not  the 
library  of  the  Wisdom  of  the  World. 

Again,  we  are  endangered  by  a  partisan  and  sec- 
tional temper.  The  existence  of  parties  is  essential 
to  the  political  health  and  strength  of  every  form  of 
free  government.  In  continued  unity  of  opinion  the 
public  mind  would  stagnate.  There  must  always  be 
honest  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  wisdom  and 
patriotism  of  measures  of  government,  and  the  fitness 
of  rulers  and  legislators.  To  adequately  express  that 
difference  there  must  always  be  a  broad,  vigorous  party 
feeling  and  strife. 

You  all  remember  how  quickly,  after  the  fact  of 
American  freedom  was  recognized  by  the  nations  of 
Europe,  the  people  of  this  country,  flinging  aside  their 
arms,  rushed  into  a  national  discussion  of  the  powers 
and  rights  of  government,  and  the  relations  of  the 
several  States  to  each  other,  and  of  the  confederate 
authority  over  each  and  over  all.  The  great  principles  of 
the  Constitution  have  been  discussed  ever  since  its  estab- 
lishment, with  ardor  and  learning,  and  even  yet,  after 
so  many  great  minds,  with  patriotic  zeal,  have  given 
interpretation  to  that  noble  instrument,  there  remains 
a  large  extent  of  j^ower  within  and  under  it,  to  be 
applied  to  the  arising  exigencies  of  increasing  national 


31 

and  State  rights.  The  complexity  of  our  government, 
or  rather  the  numerous  relations,  which  every  citizen 
sustains  to  his  vicinage,  to  his  State,  and  to  the  Federal 
Government,  compel  discussion,  and  force  men  into 
the  generous  hostility  of  party.  In  the  free,  open 
examination  of  measures  and  men  lie  the  safety  and 
strength  of  our  popular  institutions.  Every  man  here 
is  a  sovereign,  crowned  with  a  royal  authority  of 
speech  and  vote ;  and  so  long  as  the  ends  he  aims  at 
are  his  country's,  God's,  and  truth's,  so  long  will  every 
voice  be  like  a  war-cry,  and  every  vote  like  a  bullet 
against  foreign  or  domestic  foes.  But  when  allegiance 
to  the  principles  of  party  —  (and  I  speak  not  of 
ephemeral  organizations  that  now  and  then  grow  out 
of  the  disappointed  ambition,  or  the  o'ervaulting  pride 
or  shallow  conceit  of  some  selfish  politician,  but  of 
those  great  national  parties  which  have,  which  should, 
and  which  ivill  again  divide  the  affections  and  suffrages 
of  the  people)  —  when  that  allegiance  becomes  parti- 
sanship, and  principles  are  forgotten  in  the  heat  of 
party  temper,  and  a  man  comes  to  love  party  more 
than  country,  then  he  strikes  a  traitorous  blow  at  the 
genius  of  American  Liberty,  and  kindles  a  flame  that 
threatens  the  destruction  of  this,  her  magnificent  abode 
and  temple.  And  is  not  this  partisan  temper  growing 
among  us  ?  Is  there  not  a  violence  of  feeling,  lan- 
guage and  sentiment  in  our  public  discussions,  which 
is   hke   the  excitement  of  the   chase?     Do   not   the 


32 

leaders  of  parties  play  to  the  popular  prejudice,  and 
yield  to  the  passions  of  the  multitude  ?  and  do  not  the 
people  too  blindly  give  themselves  up  to  the  selfish 
aggrandizement  of  these  demagogues  ?  Are  not  men 
politically  named,  as  such  a  man's  men,  and  do  they 
not  wear  his  livery  with  complacent  meekness  —  aye, 
and  rejoice  to  be  ranked  among  the  folloiuers  of  a 
man  —  a  politician  —  forgetful  that  the  ruler  among  us 
is  the  servant  of  the  people  —  that  we,  the  people, 
have  the  dispensation  of  honors  and  gifts,  and  that  no 
man  can  grow  above  the  rank  of  an  American  citizen, 
in  which  dignity  we  are  all  equal?  Is  there  not  a 
visible  lessening  of  adherence  to  principle  —  of  loyalty 
to  right  ?  Do  not  men  change  their  public  opinions  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  and  rush  with  unpatriotic 
ardor  into  the  ranks  of  the  largest  party,  so  as  to  be 
sure  to  be  on  the  triumphant  side  ?  Success  allures 
more  than  constancy.  I  do  not  applaud  the  senti- 
ments, but  I  ever  admired  the  courage,  of  those  men 
who,  year  by  year,  we  have  seen  come  up  to  the 
ballot-box,  and,  amid  jeer  and  laugh,  drop  a  useless 
vote,  but  one  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  con- 
sciences. Did  I  say  useless  vote?  No!  not  so;  for 
no  man  ever  did  boldly  that  which  he  honestly  be- 
lieved right,  but  his  own  heart  grew  nobler  and  his 
nature  expanded  with  a  loftier  energy.  Out  of  such 
men  you  make  heroes  and  martyrs,  and  one  day  the 
world  feels  their  power.     This  partisan  temper  tends 


33 

to  make  us  sectional  in  our  political  feeling,  as  it  nar- 
rows our  political  duty  to  the  bounds  of  party  and 
Substitutes  for  a  broad,  all-embracing  patriotism,  a 
devotion  to  the  interests  of  a  part,  and  not  the  whole. 
It  makes  us  selfish  and  aggressive,  and  to  believe,  or 
at  least  to  act,  as  if  government  was  ordained  for 
our  interest,  to  satisfy  our  wants,  and  sustain  our  pecu- 
liar ideas.  Besides,  as  partisanship  leads  to  allegiance 
to  leaders  of  a  party,  the  sentiment  of  the  party  is 
necessarily  controlled  by  the  policy  and  opinions  of 
those  leaders,  and  men,  seeking  their  own  fame  and 
fortune,  and  availing  themselves  of  their  position  to 
excite  local  and  sectional  jealousies  and  discontent, 
have  embittered  the  relations  of  men  and  States,  so 
that  now  we  speak  of  the  North  and  of  the  South,  the 
East  and  the  West,  as  if  there  were  but  four  great 
States  in  the  Union,  and  each  had  its  own  separate, 
diverse  interests,  and.  the  only  unity  between  them 
was  the  result  of  contiguity. 

Already  this  sectional  temper  is  so  strong  that  men 
have  estimated  —  so  far  as  their  weak  reason  could 
compass  it  —  the  value  of  the  union  of  the  American 
States,  and  have  considered  how  well  the  North  could 
thrive  if  separated  from  the  South,  and  the  East  if 
divided  from  the  West ;  and  have  affixed  a  market 
price  upon  institutions  and  laws,  and  resolved  the 
glorious  memories  of  the  past  into  coin  and  mer- 
chandise.    Already  men  have  talked  of  ^^  letting  the 


34 

Union    slide."      Letting   the   Union    slide !  —  a    base 
figure  of  speech  !  —  a  laser   thought !     There   stands 
under  the  shadow  of  a  great  mountain  in  New  Hamp- 
shire   a   lonely,   half-ruined    cottage,   whose    inmates, 
hearing   the    crash    of    a   thundering   avalanche,   fled 
from    under   the    old   roof-tree,  the   shelter   of  their 
birth  and  childhood,  and  all  the  mingled  joys  and  sor- 
rows   of  life,   and    rushed    to    certain  doom.      That 
old  house  still  stands,  a  monument  of  their  fear  and 
cowardice.     Their  safety  was  under  the  roof  builded 
by  their  fathers.     If  they  were  to  perish,  better  far  to 
die  within  the  old  household  walls,  to  be  crushed  with 
all  the  sad  and  joyous  memories  of  home,  and  find  there 
with  a  common  tomb  or  monument.     So  let  it  be  with 
us.     When  this  Union  shall  slides  let  us  be  found  within 
it,  and  not  without  it.     God  grant  that  all  the  great 
memorials  of  the  patriotic  past  —  the    graves   of  our 
sires  —  the  few  and  feeble  monuments  of  their  fame  — 
the  greater  illustration  of  the  power  of  the  freedom 
they  established  —  our  schools,  our  seminaries  of  art, 
learning,  and  religion  —  all  we  most  prize  and  cherish 
—  all  the  land  has  and  is,  may  together  slide  into  a 
common  grave  and  destiny.     Let  no  marauding  bands 
of  politic  villains  live  to  thrive  upon  the  ruins  of  this 
great  Union.     May  one  doom  sweep  us  all  into  forget- 
fulness  and  dark  oblivion.     This  sectional  temper  has 
wrought  more  evil  than  many  wise  men  can  heal.     It 
has  exasperated  into  a  furious  frenzy  quiet   citizens. 


35 


whO;  in  their  thrifty  had  no  especial  care  for  the  move- 
ments of  pohtical  power;  it  has  stirred  the  feeble- 
minded into  a  fear  of  an  oppression  that  never  existed, 
and  roused  the  timid  into  an  alarm  as  causeless  as  the 
careless  burning  of  a  bonfire.  There  are  among  us 
men  who  live  upon  alarm  and  terror ;  who  fatten  upon 
public  tumult,  and  find  no  peace  in  the  still  movement 
of  ordinary  political  life.  Take  away  their  power  of 
disturbance,  and  they  would  die  from  the  want  of 
means  to  live,  or  come,  as  their  proper  destiny  is, 
to  inhabit  the  madhouse  or  workhouse.  There  is  no 
meaner  animal  than  the  professed  philanthropist,  w^ho, 
under  the  pretence  of  feeling  for  public  and  political 
wrong,  gathers  to  himself  a  good  living,  and  leaves  the 
objects  of  his  charity  as  they  were,  and  tuhere  they 
were,  as  the  sentimental  capital  of  his  future  harvest. 
And  out  of  this  sectional  temper  of  the  time,  there 
has  arisen  a  lusty  crowd  of  such  partisan  philanthro- 
pists, who  work  like  rats  in  the  dark,  and  coadjutant 
with  the  selfish  politician  above  ground,  live  and  move 
to  one  end  —  to  blindly,  foolishly  destroy  the  united, 
essential  power  of  these  broad  States.  Perhaps  such 
vermin  must  exist,  but  let  the  heel  of  every  honest 
American  be  upon  their  heads. 

We  have  briefly  and  imperfectly  discussed  the  sev- 
eral dangers  which  to  us  seem  to  threaten  the  stability 
of  the  American  Union  —  the  decay  of  patriotism  in 
the    excessive  commercial  spirit  of  the  people ;   the 


36 

disregard  of  events,  of  men  and  principles ;  the  miscon- 
ception of  the  office  and  end  of  government,  and  the 
sectional  and  partisan  spirit  of  the  day. 

Yet  who  can  doubt  that  the  Union  of  these  States 
shall  last  as  long  as  the  divine  purpose  that  estab- 
lished them  ?  Look  at  the  great  movements  of  time 
and  events  that  were  necessarily  anterior  to  the  erec- 
tion of  this  government.  Centuries  had  to  pass  before 
the  great  tide  of  civilization,  which  from  the  garden 
eastward  in  Eden  —  spreading  with  seeming  ebb  and 
flow,  yet  with  constant  progression  —  reached  these 
shores,  bearing  on  its  crested  wave  the  heroic  Colum- 
bus, the  pilot  of  that  greater  company  which  came 
hither  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  new  Western  empire. 
Generations  of  statesmen  had  to  live  and  spend  the 
energy  of  their  wisdom  upon  theories  and  forms  of 
government.  Nations  had  to  grow  to  greatness  and 
totter  to  their  fall;  dynasties  and  kingdoms  had  to 
contend  with  every  form  of  human  passion,  and  yield 
to  every  form  of  decay  incident  to  human  weakness 
and  vice,  before  this  people  could  be  created.  For 
there  is  a  positive  relation  of  human  events,  one  to 
another.  The  great  moral  and  political  forces  of  life 
act  as  certainly  as  the  great  forces  of  nature  ;  they  are 
but  a  higher  development  of  nature,  and  are  obedi- 
ent to  the  same  authority  as  that  which  has  set  the 
stars  in  their  places,  and  given  perfume  and  beauty 
to  the  flowers  of  the  field.     And  thus,  from  the  first 


37 

patriarchal  governraent  to  the  creation  of  our  own 
republic,  all  things  conspired,  all  things  wrought 
toward  it.  The  greatness  of  our  day  rests  upon  founda- 
tions broader  than  the  Pyramids,  more  venerable  tha^, 
the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  We  believe  that  the  mhp^i 
of  our  political  life  and  institutions  is  not  yet  fiiiished; 
that  we  have  not  reached  the  full  development  of  the  - 

power  within  us ;  that  we  have  not  yet  accotnplished  f 

the  magnificent  destiny  assigned  us.    Here  where  there  ""^ 

were  no  crumbling  ruins  of  old  establishments^  .  no  ^JS^ 
monumental  stones  or  storied  arches,  the  remains  of 
an  ancient  and  extinguished  glory;  no  places  conse- 
crated by  priestly  ceremony  or  the  authority  of  kings 
—  upon  a  broad,  open  space  that  never  had  been 
builded  upon  or  occupied  by  human  government,  the 
will  of  God  laid  the  foundations  of  these  great  States, 
and  erected  them  into  One  —  the  proudest,  noblest 
temple  of  human  liberty  that  the  world  has  ever  seen, 
or  ever  shall  see.  The  wrath  of  man,  the  folly  of  man, 
may  mar  its  beauty ;  neglect  may  dim  the  lustre  of 
its  ornaments ;  violence  may  deface  its  altar,  and  tu- 
mult disturb  its  worship;  but  the  massive  walls  and 
knitted  roof  of  that  temple  cannot  be  shaken;  its 
gates  shall  be  thronged,  and  its  service  shall  be  min- 
istered, so  long  as  the  largest  freedom  of  man  is  neces- 
sary to  the  purposes  of  God. 

Let   us,  then,   on  this   day,  lift   up   our  hearts  in 
thanksgiving;   let  us  commemorate   the  virtues  and 


38 

patriotism  of  our  fathers ;  let  us  render  our  grateful 
thanks  to  Heaven  for  the  blessings  bestowed  upon  that 
virtue,  and  the  triumph  given  to  that  patriotism ;  let 
there  be  enkindled  in  our  hearts  a  noble  emulation 
of  their  goodness,  that  we  may  worthily  inherit  and 
purely  transmit  their  greatness  to  distant  generations. 
Let  us  all  this  day  renew  the  vows  of  our  allegiance 
to  the  eternal  principles  of  Truth  and  Liberty.  Let 
the  sun  go  down  upon  better  men  and  better  citizens, 
who  will  be  animated  by  a  deeper,  stronger,  purer 
devotion  to  our  great,  our  common  country. 


■M 


DINNER  AT  FANEUIL  HALL. 


THE     DINNER 


The  dinner  was  provided  in  accordance  with  an  es- 
tablished custom^  in  Faneuil  Hall.  Under  the  direction 
of  Messrs.  Lamprell  and  Marble,  who  had  been  en- 
trusted with  the  various  decorations  of  the  city,  the 
main  stairway  of  the  Hall  was  tastefully  arched  with 
flags.  From  the  centre  of  the  ceiling  in  the  interior, 
was  suspended  a  twelve-pointed  star  of  red,  white,  and 
blue  bunting,  from  each  point  of  which  stretched  a  staff 
terminating  in  a  spear-head  of  gilt,  with  the  American 
flag  attached.  In  the  centre  of  the  star  was  a  large  gilt 
eagle,  grasping  with  his  talons  the  American  shield. 
From  the  star  to  the  galleries  stretched  heavy  festoons 
of  bunting,  while  the  doors  and  windows  were  draped 
with  the  flags  of  diflerent  nations.  At  intervals  about 
the  galleries  were  placed  panels  upon  which  were  in- 
scribed in  gilt  the  names  of  the  several  Presidents  of 
the  United  States,  and  between  these  were  shields  bear- 
ing the  names  of  the  various  States  of  the  Union.  Sur- 
mounting the  clock,  a  small  arch  of  velvet  and  gold 
bore  the  name  of  Washington.  A  large  triple  arch  was 
erected  over  the  eagle  in  the  eastern  gallery,  upon  two 
columns  decorated  with  American  flags,  and  bearing  a 
representation  of  ancient  battle-axes  in  gilt.    The  large 


42 


arch  was  inscribed  with  the  motto^  "  The  Cradle  of  Lib- 
erty," while  the  smaller  arches  were  respectively  dis- 
tinguished by  the  mottoeS;  ^^  July  4th,  1776/'  and  "July 
4th,  1858." 

At  about  two  o'clock,  the  procession,  numbering  some 
eleven  hundred  persons,  entered  the  Hall,  and  after  a 
blessing  had  been  invoked  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Lothrop,  the 
Chaplain  of  the  day,  sat  down  to  an  excellent  dinner, 
prepared  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Smith,  the  well-known  caterer. 

At  about  three  o'clock,  the  company  having  satisfied 
their  appetites  with  the  repast,  the  Hon.  Frederic  W. 
Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor  of  the  City,  rose  and  delivered  the 
following  address : 

We  have  assembled,  Citizens  of  Boston,  in  our  own  Faneuil 
Hall,  to  participate  in  the  celebration  of  another  anniver- 
sary of  American  Independence.  We  have  laid  aside  the 
sober  cares  of  our  several  daily  avocations,  to  join  in  that 
general  jubilee  which  is  so  becoming  to  a  great  and  united 
people. 

This  morning's  sun  shone  upon  thirty  millions  of  freemen 
exulting  in  the  peaceful  and  full  enjoyment  of  a  greater  num- 
ber of  blessings  than  has  ever  before  been  vouchsafed  to 
man. 

The  act  we  commemorate  placed  the  United  States  in  a 
proud  position  as  a  member  of  the  great  family  of  nations. 
Its  influence  has  extended  further  than  that ;  for  while  it 
conferred  happitfess  upon  a  great  community,  yet  it  has  modi- 
fied and  changed  the  policy  of  every  civilized  people,  and  is 
destined  to  go  on  until  constitutional  governments  and  the 
rights  of  men  shall  be  universally  acknowledged. 

If  there  is  any  section  of  this  country  that  should  glory 
in  the  day,  it  is  this  Commonwealth  and  our  own  beloved 
Boston.     Here   the   great   struggle  of  the  Revolution  com- 


43 


menced;  our  soil  first  drank  the  blood  of  its  martyrs;  on 
yonder  heights  was  the  first  great  battle  fought ;  our  streets 
first  witnessed  the  insolence  of  the  foreign  foe ;  and  from 
our  wharves  his  first  great  mortifying  defeat,  as  begging  per- 
mission to  quietly  retire,  after  a  protracted  siege  within 
its  sheltering  walls,  his  discomfited  army,  with  its  craven- 
hearted  retainers,  took  their  hurried  departure,  and  sailed 
down  the  waters  of  our  beautiful  bay. 

Massachusetts  men  were  in  every  great  battle  of  the  Revo- 
lution; the  bones  of  her  sons  lie  mingled  with  the  soil  of 
every  field  of  the  conflict ;  but  her  enemy  never  again  at- 
tempted to  make  our  State  the  theatre  of  war,  or  trusted 
their  armies  to  the  mercy  of  a  people  who  had  driven  them 
so  ignominiously  from  her  shores. 

The  foe  gallantly  met  them  in  other  scenes  and  in  distant 
parts,  but  they  had  already  seen  enough  of  the  mettle  of  her 
Puritan  stock,  not  to  hazard  another  effort  at  subjugation  in 
the  midst  of  the  firesides  and  homes  of  her  patriots. 

The  men  of  Massachusetts  heard  the  first  gun  of  the  Rev- 
olution within  her  own  limits  ;  they  struggled  then,  and 
through  all  that  eventful  war,  in  every  section,  for  the  com- 
mon cause,  and  only  ceased  their  efforts  when  the  royal  army 
at  the  siege  of  Yorktown  laid  down  their  arms,  and  their 
submission  was  received  by  one  of  her  own  generals.  The 
valor  which  Massachusetts  displayed  in  the  field  was  only 
equalled  by  the  wisdom  which  distinguished  her  in  the  coun- 
cil. The  eloquence  of  her  civilians  prepared  and  sustained 
the  hearts  of  the  people  for  the  contest,  and  nerved  their 
arms  and  strengthened  their  sinews  for  those  deeds  which 
astonished  the  world. 

The  patriotism  which  led  her  into  the  conflict,  and,  with 
the  cooperation  of  her  sister  colonies,  carried  her  success- 
fully through,  has  ever  continued,  and  is  as  strong  now  as  at 
any  period  in  her  history. 

The   people  of  Boston  in  town-meeting  assembled,  at  the 


44 


conclusion  of  the  war  in  1783,  resolved  that  the  anniversary 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  should  be  constantly 
celebrated  by  a  public  oration ;  and  to-day  we  have  listened 
to  the  seventy-sixth  which  has  been  delivered  under  the 
auspices  of  its  municipal  authorities.  I  believe  it  can  be  said 
to  the  credit  of  Boston,  that  it  is  the  only  municipal  organi- 
zation which  has,  without  a  single  exception,  celebrated  in 
this  manner  this  great  national  event. 

These  orations,  while  necessarily  partaking  somewhat  of 
the  personal  feelings  and  opinions  of  the  different  individuals 
who  have  officiated,  have  still  in  the  main  been  a  true  index 
of  the  spirit  of  the  times  in  which  they  were  delivered ;  and 
they  have  been  of  incalculable  advantage  in  keeping  in  re- 
membrance the  heroic  deeds  of  the  fathers  who  achieved  the 
independence  of  the  nation. 

Let  us,  then,  fellow-citizens,  dedicate  the  day  to  none  but 
the  most  fraternal  feelings  for  all  sections  and  parties  of  our 
common  country.  Let  party  names  and  sectarian  preju- 
dices be  banished  from  our  thoughts  on  this  national  festival. 
Let  us  all  swear  unfaltering  allegiance  to  the  great  princi- 
ples of  the  Revolution,  leaving  the  particular  application  of 
those  principles  to  public  measures,  to  other  occasions,  and 
to  other  days  in  the  national  calendar. 

In  the  progress  of  events  we  must  occasionally  differ  upon 
momentous  questions  affecting  the  public  weal.  Controver- 
sies will  come  with  free  thought  and  free  speech,  and  are  in 
themselves  signs  of  a  healthy  political  organization ;  but  to 
day  we  recognize  each  and  all  as  brothers  and  patriots,  heirs 
of  the  same  glorious  inheritance,  and  alike  responsible  to 
transmit  it  unimpaired  to  posterity.  Let  us  here,  in  old  Fan- 
euil  Hall,  surrounded  by  all  its  interesting  associations,  sol- 
emnly assert  our  loyalty  to  that  Union  of  the  States  which 
makes  us  one  people,  and  the  sacred  regard  to  the  Constitu- 
tion as  established  by  the  fathers,  and  expounded  by  its  most 
illustrious  defenders. 


45 


Let  us  feel  that  our  duties  correspond  with  our  privileges, 
and  remember  the  old  maxim  that  "  eternal  vigilance  is  the 
price  of  liberty." 

The  occasion  is  one  of  congratulation ;  let  us  give  full  play 
to  the  emotions  of  the  hour. 

The  star-spangled  banner,  the  emblem  of  the  free,  floats 
this  day  not  only  over  a  vast  republic,  but  is. seen  by  admiring 
eyes  upon  some  mast-head  in  every  sea.  Every  American's 
heart  beats  quicker  as  it  is  seen  aloft  dallying  with  the  breeze. 
Let  us  see  to  it  that  its  ethereal  blue  shall  never  be  soiled 
by  any  stain,  nor  the  brilliancy  of  its  stars  be  obscured  by 
anarchy  or  disunion.  In  behalf  of  the  City  of  Boston,  I  bid 
you  all,  guests  and  associates,  a  cordial  welcome  to-day  to  the 
"  Cradle  of  Liberty,"  and  to  the  festivities  of  this  occasion, 
and  will  close  with  proposing  this  sentiment : 

The  day  we  celebrate  —  The  most  memorable  day  in  the  history  of 
the  past ;  each  returning  anniversary  shall  add  to  it  a  new  significance, 
as  it  beholds  a  great  and  prosperous  people  enjoying  the  rich  legacy  be- 
queathed by  the  fathers,  and  resolved  in  their  turn  to  transmit  it  to  their 
sons. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Mayor's  address,  which  was 
warmly  applauded,  "  Hail  Columbia  "  was  played  by  the 
band. 

Col.  Jonas  H.  French,  the  Chief  Marshal  of  the  day, 
who  also  acted  as  Toast  Master,  then  announced 

The  first  regular  toast. 

The  President  of  the  United  States — May  wisdom  direct  his  councils, 
and  under  the  auspices  of  the  Constitution,  may  he  exercise  his  high  pre- 
rogative with  discretion,  honor,  and  fidelity. 

In  response  to  this  sentiment,  the  following  letter 
was  read  : 


46 


Washington,  June  19,  1858, 
Dear  Sir  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  "  official  invitation  to 
participate  with  the  City  Grovernment  of  Boston  in  the  celebration  of  the 
approaching  anniversary  of  American  Independence." 

I  should  be  much  gratified  were  it  in  my  power  to  accept  this  invita- 
tion^ and  therefore  deeply  regret  that  public  business  will  confine  me  to 
this  city  for  several  weeks  to  come. 

Feeling  much  indebted  to  you  for  the  kind  and  courteous  terms  which 
you  have  employed  in  extending  the  invitation, 

I  remain,  yours  very  respectfully, 

JAMES  BUCHANAN. 

Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor,  etc. 

The  second  regular  toast  was  : 

The  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  —  May  her  ancient  glory  and 
ancestral  fame  ever  remind  her  sons  that  their  highest  duty  rests  upon 
the  platform  of  their  broadest  patriotism. 

His  Excellency,  the  Governor^  upon  being  introduced 
to  the  audience  by  the  Mayor,  responded  to  this  senti- 
ment as  follows : 

He  said  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  be  insensible  to 
the  honor  conferred  upon  him  in  being  called  upon  to  respond 
to  the  sentiment  which  had  just  been  pronounced.  He  would 
thank  the  citizens  of  Boston  who  were  present  for  the  recep- 
tion which  that  toast  had  received  at  their  hands.  He  con- 
fessed that  he  had  experienced  an  inexpressible  pleasure  in 
participating,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  in  the  celebration 
of  this  anniversary  by  the  city  authorities  of  Boston;  for, 
though  often  heretofore  invited  to  join  in  the  municipal  cele- 
bration, yet  never  before  had  it  been  his  privilege  to  be  pres- 
ent. He  was  proud  to  say  that  the  occasion  was  quite  equal 
to  the  expectations  he  had  formed  of  it. 

There  were  many  reasons,  individual  as  well  as  official,  why 
he  was  pleased  to  join  with  the  citizens  of  Boston  in  the  com- 
memoration of  this  day.     He  begged  leave  to  say  that  he 


47 


helped  build  tins  city  himself.  In  its  darkened  shops,  upon 
the  printing  presses  and  engines  which  have  contributed  so 
much  to  its  glory,  he  gave  the  toil  of  his  youth,  and  were  it 
necessary,  he  could  still  return  to  them.  Those  localities  he 
never  passed  without  emotion.  Although  subsequently  ad- 
mitted to  the  profession  of  the  law  —  of  which  the  orator  of 
the  day  was  so  distinguished  an  ornament  — r-  his  memory  still 
reverted  with  pleasure  to  the  days  which  he  passed  in  those 
workshops ;  for  there,  with  those  who  were  associated  with 
him,  were  passed  many  of  the  happiest  hours  of  his  life. 

The  Commonwealth  has  many  reasons  for  cherishing  the 
reputation  of  this  metropolis.  It  was  this  city  which  was 
foremost  in  creating  that  merchant  marine  that  has  done  so 
much  for  the  wealth  of  the  State;  and  Massachusetts  can 
never  forget  the  unswerving  patriotism  with  which  the  Boston 
boys  sustained  her  rights  and  her  liberties  during  the  long 
and  desperate  struggle  of  the  Revolution.  The  Common- 
wealth cherishes  the  renown  of  the  great  and  successful 
efforts  of  the  merchant  princes  of  Boston  to  harmonize  the 
conflicting  interests  of  commerce  and  manufactures,  which 
together  have  accomplished  so  much  for  the  prosperity  of  the 
whole  country.  And  worthy  of  the  incidents  in  the  brilliant 
history  of  the  City  of  Boston,  was  the  establishment  of  an 
official  and  formal  commemoration  of  the  anniversary  of  our 
national  independence  —  an  anniversary  which  in  less  than 
eighteen  years  will  be  commemorated  by  fifty  millions  of 
people. 

Remarks  had  been  made  to-day  which  inclined  him  to  a 
consideration  of  those  political  views  to  which  patriotic  and 
national  sentiments  and  thoughts  would  lead  us  upon  an  occa- 
sion like  this ;  but  the  Mayor,  treating  him  as  a  guest,  had 
forborne  alluding  to  those  topics,  and  in  so  doing  had  acted 
rightly.  This  day  belongs  not  to  the  City  or  to  the  State, 
it  is  consecrated  to  the  Union  of  the  States,  and  is  the  prop- 
erty of  all  men  throughout  the  world.     We  may  cherish  the 


48 


recollection  of  tlie  historic  glories  of  Boston  and  Bunker  Hill; 
but  we  may  never  forget  that  Georgia,  Carolina  and  Yir- 
ginia  stood  side  by  side  with  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Massachusetts.  We  must  remember  that  Lee  and  Jefferson, 
as  well  as  Hancock  and  Adams,  are  to-day  citizens  of  no 
State,  but  ^^  bright  particular  stars  "  in  that  galaxy  of  states- 
men who  fashioned  for  us  the  glorious  heritage  of  the  Amer- 
ican Union,  which  to-day  numbers  thirty-two  independent 
States.  We  must  regard  these  as  great,  distinguishing  facts ; 
and  when  in  the  light  of  these  facts  we  look  back  to  the  past, 
and  the  labors  of  those  who  are  gone  before  us,  remember 
that  there  is  a  God  who  still  lives,  and  holds  us  to  the  per- 
formance of  the  duties  of  the  future,  and  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  principles  of  liberty,  as  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  our 
fathers. 

The  American  Eevolution  did  much  more  than  give  to 
an  intelligent  people  a  chance  for  the  establishment  of  well- 
regulated  constitutional  liberty.  It  placed  them  many  centu- 
ries in  advance  of  the  people  of  all  other  States,  and  of  all 
parts  of  the  world.  It  cannot  be,  looking  from  this  high 
stand-point,  and  considering  the  privileges  we  are  enjoying, 
that  the  past  is  the  only  light  to  which  we  can  look,  or  that 
the  light  of  the  future  is  not  as  open  and  encouraging  as  was 
the  future  of  those  who  have  gone  before  us.  As  he  had 
remarked  before,  suggestions  occurred  to  him,  which  he 
would,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  like  to  give  utterance 
to,  but  his  position  and  the  character  of  the  day  impelled  him 
to  forbear. 

He  would  close,  by  returning  thanks  for  the  compliment 
paid  to  the  Commonwealth,  and  for  the  opportunity  afforded 
him  of  attending  this  celebration,  and  express  the  hope  that 
the  prosperity  which  has  fallen  upon  the  City  of  Boston  may 
still  be  retained  by  her  citizens,  and  the  honor  of  the  metrop- 
olis continue  as  bright  as  it  was  in  the  day  when  its  fathers 
strove  for  the  liberties  of  the  country. 


49 
The  third  regular  toast  was  : 

Tlie  Memory  of  Washington. 

After  a  dirge  by  the  band,  the  company  standing, 
the  Mayor  remarked  that  it  was  fitting  that  the  most 
illustrious  of  living  orators  should  reply  to  a  sentiment 
in  honor  of  the  most  illustrious  of  the  dead,  and  intro- 
duced the  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  who  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Mayor  :  I  feel  greatly  honored  by  the  manner  in  which 
you  hav^e  called  upon  me  to  respond  to  the  toast  given  to  the 
memory  of  Washington.  I  have  elsewhere  thought  it  right 
to  say,  that  to  be  named  in  connection  with  him  is  an  honor 
so  far  beyond  any  desert  of  mine,  that  there  would  be  a 
degree  of  vanity  in  thinking  it  necessary  even  to  disclaim  it. 
You  will  give  me  credit,  if  not  for  the  self-knowledge  and 
humility,  at  least  for  the  good  taste,  which  would  lead  me  to 
put  far  aside  any  such  association  with  that  great  name,  which 
more  than  any  other  name  of  human  renown,  has  drawn  to 
itself  incommunicably  the  gratitude  and  affection  of  his  own 
countrymen,  and  the  admiration  of  mankind.  But  I  may, 
without  presumption,  return  you  my  thanks  for  affording  me 
the  opportunity  of  giving  utterance,  on  your  behalf,  and  on 
behalf  of  the  City  of  Boston,  to  the  emotions  with  which  the 
mention  of  that  illustrious  name,  ever  honored,  ever  dear, 
must  warm  the  bosom  of  the  true  patriot,  on  the  anniversary 
of  our  National  Independence. 

I  feel,  sir,  more  and  more,  as  I  advance  in  life,  and  watch 
with  mingled  confidence,  solicitude,  and  hope,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  momentous  drama  of  our  national  existence, 
seeking  to  penetrate  that  future  which  His  Excellency  has  so 
eloquently  foreshadowed,  that  it  is  well  worth  our  while,  — 
that  it  is  at  once  one  of  our  highest  social  duties,  and  impor- 
tant privileges,  —  to  celebrate  with  ever-increasing  solemnity, 

7 


50 


with  annually  augmented  pomp  and  circumstance  of  festal 
commemoration,  the  anniversary  of  the  nation's  birth,  were  it 
only  as  affording  a  fitting  occasion  to  bring  the  character  and 
services  of  Washington,  with  ever  fresh  recognition,  to  the 
public  attention,  as  the  great  central  figure  of  that  unparal- 
leled group,  that  ^''  noble  army  "  of  chieftains,  sages,  and  pa- 
triots by  whom  the  Revolution  was  accomplished. 

This  is  the  occasion,  and  here  is  the  spot,  and  this  is  the 
day,  and  we  citizens  of  Boston  are  the  men,  if  any  in  the 
land,  to  throw  wide  open  the  portals  of  the  temple  of  mem- 
ory and  fame,  and  there  gaze  with  the  eyes  of  a  reverent 
and  grateful  imagination  on  his  benignant  countenance  and 
majestic  form.  This  is  the  occasion  and  the  day;  for  who 
needs  to  be  told  how  much  the  cause  of  Independence  owes 
to  the  services  and  character  of  Washington  j  to  the  purity 
of  that  stainless  purpose,  to  the  firmness  of  that  resolute 
soul  ?  This  is  the  spot,  this  immortal  hall,  from  which  as 
from  an  altar  went  forth  the  burning  coals  that  kindled  into 
a  consuming  fire  at  Lexington  and  Concord,  at  Bunker  Hill 
and  Dorchester  Heights.  We  citizens  of  Boston  are  the  men  j 
for  the  first  great  success  of  Washington  in  the  Revolutionary 
war  was  to  restore  to  our  fathers  their  ancient  and  beloved 
native  town.  This  is  the  time,  the  accepted  time,  when  the 
voice  of  the  Father  of  his  Country  cries  aloud  to  us  from  the 
sods  of  Mount  Yernon,  and  calls  upon  us.  East  and  West, 
North  and  South,  as  the  brethren  of  one  great  household,  to 
be  faithful  to  the  dear-bought  inheritance  which  he  did  so 
much  to  secure  to  us. 

But  the  fame  of  Washington  is  not  confined  to  our  own 
country.  Bourdaloue,  in  his  eulogy  on  the  military  saint  of 
France,  exclaims,  '^  The  other  saints  have  been  given  by  the 
church  to  France,  but  France  in  return  has  given  St.  Louis 
to  the  church."  Born  into  the  family  of  nations  in  these 
latter  days,  receiving  from  foreign  countries  and  inheriting 
from  ancient  times  the  bright  and  instructive  example  of  all 


51 


their  honored  sons,  it  is  the  glory  of  America,  in  the  very- 
dawn  of  her  national  existence,  to  have  given  back  to  the 
world  many  names,  of  which  the  lustre  will  never  fade ;  and 
especially  one  name,  of  which  the  whole  family  of  Christen- 
dom is  willing  to  acknowledge  the  unenvied  preeminence ;  a 
name  of  which  neither  Greece  nor  Rome,  nor  Republican 
Italy,  Switzerland,  nor  Holland,  nor  Constitutional  England 
can  boast  the  rival.  "  A  character  of  virtues  so  happily  tem- 
pered by  one  another,"  (I  use  the  language  of  Charles  James 
Fox,)  "  and  so  wholly  unalloyed  by  any  vices,  is  hardly  to  be 
found  on  the  pages  of  history." 

It  is  delightful  to  witness  the  generous  recognition  of 
Washington's  merit,  even  in  countries  where  from  political 
reasons  some  backwardness  in  that  respect  might  have  been 
anticipated.  Notwithstanding  his  leading  agency  in  wresting 
a  colonial  empire  from  Great  Britain,  England  was  not  slow 
to  appreciate  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  his  character.  Mr. 
Rufus  King,  our  minister  at  that  time  to  the  Court  of  St. 
James,  writing  to  Gen.  Hamilton  in  1797,  says :  "  No  one  who 
has  not  been  in  England  can  have  a  just  idea  of  the  admira- 
tion expressed  among  all  parties  for  General  Washington. 
It  is  a  common  observation,  that  he  is  not  only  the  most  illus- 
trious, but  the  most  meritorious  character  which  has  yet 
appeared."  Nor  was  France  behind  England  in  her  admira- 
tion of  Washington.  Notwithstanding  the  uneasy  relations 
of  the  two  countries  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  when  the  news 
of  his  death  reached  Paris,  the  youthful  and  fortunate  soldier, 
who  had  already  reached  the  summit  of  power  by  paths  which 
Washington  could  never  have  trod,  commanded  the  highest 
honors  to  be  paid  to  his  memory.  "  Washington,"  he  immedi- 
ately exclaimed,  in  the  orders  of  the  day,  "  is  dead !  This 
great  man  fought  against  tyranny ;  he  consolidated  the  lib- 
erty of  his  country.  His  memory  will  be  ever  dear  to  the 
French  people,  as  to  all  freemen  in  both  hemispheres,  and 
especially  to   the  soldiers   of  France,  who  like  him  and  the 


52 


American  soldiers,  are  fighting  for  liberty  and  equality.  In 
consequence,  the  First  Consul  orders  that  for  ten  days  black 
crape  shall  be  suspended  from  all  the  standards  and  ban- 
ners of  the  republic."  By  order  of  Napoleon,  a  solemn 
funeral  service  was  performed  in  the  "Invalides,"  in  the 
presence  of  all  that  was  most  eminent  in  Paris.  "A  sor- 
rowful cry,"  said  Fontanes,  the  orator  chosen  for  the  occa- 
sion, '•'  has  reached  us  from  America,  which  he  liberated.  It 
belongs  to  France  to  yield  the  first  response  to  the  lamenta- 
tion which  will  be  echoed  by  every  great  soul.  These  august 
arches  have  been  well  chosen  for  the  apotheosis  of  a  hero." 

How  often  in  those  wild  scenes  of  her  revolution,  when 
the  best  blood  of  France  was  shed  by  the  remorseless  and 
ephemeral  tyrants,  who  chased  each  other,  dagger  in  hand, 
across  that  dismal  stage  of  crime  and  woe,  during  the  reign 
of  terror,  how  often  did  the  thoughts  of  Lafayette  and  his 
companions  in  arms,  who  had  fought  the  battles  of  constitu- 
tional liberty  in  America,  call  up  the  image  of  the  pure,  the 
just,  the  humane,  the  unambitious  Washington  !  How  differ- 
ent would  have  been  the  fate  of  France,  if  her  victorious 
chieftain,  when  he  had  reached  the  giddy  heights  of  power, 
had  imitated  the  great  example  which  he  caused  to  be  eulo- 
gized !  He  might  have  saved  his  country  from  being  crushed 
by  the  leagued  hosts  of  Europe ;  he  might  have  prevented 
the  names  of  Moscow  and  Waterloo  from  being  written  in 
letters  of  blood  on  the  pages  of  history;  he  might  have 
escaped  himself  the  sad  significance  of  those  memorable 
words  of  Fontanes,  on  the  occasion  to  which  I  have  alluded, 
when,  in  the  presence  of  Napoleon,  he  spoke  of  Washington 
as  a  man  who,  "  by  a  destiny  seldom  shared  by  those  who 
change  the  fate  of  empires,  died  in  peace  as  a  private  citizen, 
in  his  native  land,  where  he  had  held  the  first  rank,  and 
which  he  had  himself  made  free  !  " 

How  difi'erent  would  have  been  the  fate  of  Spain,  of 
Naples,  of  Greece,  of  Germany,  of  Mexico  and   the  South 


American  Republics,  had  their  recent  revolutions  been  con- 
ducted by  men  like  Washington  and  his  patriotic  associates, 
whose  prudence,  patriotism,  probity,  and  disinterestedness 
conducted  our  Revolution  to  an  auspicious  and  honorable 
result  I 

But  it  is,  of  course,  at  home  that  we  must  look  for  an 
adequate  appreciation  of  our  Washington's  services  and 
worth.  He  is  the  friend  of  the  liberties  of  other  countries; 
he  is  the  father  of  his  own.  I  own,  Mr.  Mayor,  that  it  has 
been  to  me  a  source  of  inexpressible  satisfaction  to  find, 
amidst  all  the  bitter  dissensions  of  the  day,  that  this  one  grand 
sentiment,  veneration  for  the  name  of  Washington,  is  buried 
—  no,  planted  —  down  in  the  very  depths  of  the  Ameri- 
can heart.  It  has  been  my  privilege,  within  the  last  two 
years,  to  hold  it  up  to  the  reverent  contemplation  of  my 
countrymen,  from  the  banks  of  the  Penobscot  to  the  banks 
of  the  Savannah,  from  New  York  to  St.  Louis,  from  Chesa- 
peake Bay  to  Lake  Michigan;  and  the  same  sentiments, 
expressed  in  the  same  words,  have  everywhere  touched  the 
same  sympathetic  Qhord  in  the  American  heart. 

To  that  central  attraction  I  have  been  delighted  to  find 
the  thoughts,  the  affections,  the  memories  of  the  people,  in 
whatever  part  of  the  country,  from  the  ocean  to  the  prairies 
of  the  West,  from  the  land  of  granite  and  ice  to  the  land  of 
the  palmetto  and  the  magnolia,  instinctively  turn.  They 
have  their  sectional  loves  and  hatreds,  but  before  the  dear 
name  of  Washington  they  are  all  absorbed  and  forgotten. 
In  whatever  region  of  the  country,  the  heart  of  patriotism 
warms  to  him ;  as  in  the  starry  heavens,  with  the  circling  of 
the  seasons,  the  pointers  go  round  the  sphere,  but  their 
direction  is  ever  toward  the  pole.  They  may  point  from 
the  East,  they  may  point  from  the  West,  but  they  will  point 
to  the  Northern  star.  It  is  not  the  brightest  luminary  in  the 
heavens,  as  men  account  brightness,  but  it  is  always  in  its 
place.     The  meteor,  kindled  into  momentary  blaze  from  the 


54 

rank  vapors  of  the  lower  sky,  is  brighter.  The  comet  is 
brighter  that  streams  across  the  firmament, 

"  And  from  his  horrid  hair, 
Shakes  pestilence  and  war." 

But  the  meteor  explodes;  the  comet  rushes  back  to  the 
depths  of  the  heavens ;  while  the  load-star  shines  steady  at 
the  pole,  alike  in  summer  and  in  winter,  in  seed-time  and  in 
harvest,  at  the  equinox  and  the  solstice.  It  shone  for  Colum- 
bus at  the  discovery  of  America ;  it  shone  for  the  pioneers 
of  settlement,  the  pilgrims  of  faith  and  hope,  at  Jamestown 
and  Plymouth ;  it  will  shine  for  the  mariner  who  shall  enter 
your  harbor  to-night ;  it  will  shine  for  the  navies  which  shall 
bear  the  sleeping  thunders  of  your  power,  while  the  flag  of 
the  Union  shall  brave  the  battle  and  the  breeze.  So,  too, 
the  character,  the  counsels,  the  example  of  our  Washington, 
of  which  you  bid  me  speak ;  they  guided  our  fathers  through 
the  storms  of  the  Revolution ;  they  will  guide  us  through  the 
doubtS"  and  difficulties  that  beset  us;  they  will  guide  our 
children  and  our  children's  children  in  the  paths  of  pros- 
perity and  peace,  while  America  shall  hold  her  place  in  the 
family  of  nations. 

The  fourth  regular  toast  was : 

The  Judiciary  —  The  sheet-anchor  of  the  Ship  of  State  ;  may  it 
ever  take  firm  hold  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

Judge  Sanger,  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  hav- 
ing been  called  upon  to  respond,  said  :  — 

Both  for  the  subject  matter  of  the  sentiment,  and  for 
those  who  have  been,  with  myself,  attentive  and  delighted 
listeners  to  the  eloquent  speech  just  delivered,  it  is  to  be 
rcirretted  that  it  has  not  fallen  to  the  lot  of  some  member  of 
that  Supreme   Court  whose  learning  and  whose  weight  of 


55 


personal  character  have  established  that  tribunal  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  and  have  added 
lustre  to  the  Commonwealth  itself,  to  answer  to  this  senti- 
ment. And  now  that  those  eloquent  lips  have  just  been 
closed  —  lips  whose  feeblest  accents  always  thrill  to  the 
heart  —  I  feel  it  almost  impossible  to  say  a  word.  But  I 
have  been  called  upon,  and  must  respond  to  the  sentiment. 

I  do  not  propose  to  eulogize  the  Judiciary  of  Massachu- 
setts. The  occasion  neither  permits  nor  requires  it.  But 
I  would  speak  of  the  aid  which  the  Judiciary  lends  to  the 
administration  of  the  law.  In  this  respect,  perhaps,  more 
honor  has  been  awarded  to  it  than  it  can  justly  claim. 

While  we  speak  of  the  Judiciary  as  the  directing  and  con- 
trolling power,  we  often  attribute  to  it  the  undivided  honor 
and  responsibility.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  has 
not  an  undivided  honor  and  responsibility;  that  there  are 
others  who  share  the  honors  that  cluster  around  the  re- 
sponsibility that  attaches  to  its  decisions.  We  all  know 
that  when  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  gives  a 
decision  upon  an  abstract  question,  the  annunciation  of  the 
decision  falls  unheeded,  unless,  by  the  application  of  the  law 
to  facts,  the  popular  pulse  is  struck  and  feeling  is  excited. 
It  seems  to  me  that  when  the  law  is  applied  to  the  facts,  it 
is  then  that  the  honor  is  due  and  the  responsibility  attaches. 
Now  while  the  judges  do  this  but  rarely,  there  is  a  body  of 
men  who  do  it  every  day —  the  jury  —  who  under  our  Consti- 
tution and  laws  apply  the  law  to  the  facts ;  and  it  is  the  jury 
who  should  share  the  honor  and  divide  the  responsibility. 

The  speaker  concluded  by  offering  as  a  sentiment : 

The  Jury  List  —  In  theory  composed  of  men  of  the  best  intellect, 
intelligence  and  integrity  in  the  various  walks  of  life,  who  well  and  truly 
try  the  issue  according  to  the  evidence.  Let  the  people  see  to  it  that  the 
fact  corresponds  to  the  theory. 


56 
The  fifth  regular  toast  was  : 

The  Union  of  the  States  —  Around  it  cluster  tlie  most  glorious 
associations  of  our  history ;  in  it  the  hopes  of  humanity  are  involved  ;  for 
it  religious  liberty  and  conscience  plead  ;  and  beyond  all,  upon  it,  in  its 
riper  years  as  in  its  infancy,  the  protection  of  God  rests,  a  sheltering 
cloud  for  its  fiercer  day,  and  a  pillar  of  fire  in  its  darker  night. 

After  the  reading  of  this  toast,  the  Mayor  remarked 
that  he  saw  near  him  a  gentleman  who  represented 
a  name  always  loved  and  respected  in  the  State,  and 
he  called  upon  Mr.  Amos  A.  Lawrence  to  respond. 

Mr.  Lawrence  remarked  that  the  call  was  unexpected,  but 
he  held  to  the  doctrine  that  any  Massachusetts  man  wlio  can- 
not respond  to  that  sentiment,  and  on  the  moment,  is  no 
American  at  all.  In  looking  over  some  old  papers  the  other 
day,  to  ascertain  what  had  been  done  in  times  past  on  the 
occasion  of  this  anniversary,  he  found  that  after  the  Congress, 
their  "  Majesties  the  King  and  Queen  of  France "  were 
toasted.  The  next  toast  was  to  the  Dauphin,  and  after  that 
was  one  to  George  Washington. 

This  unnatural  and  unpatriotic  order  was  introduced  be- 
cause party  politics  had  been  introduced  into  the  celebration 
of  the  day,  and  at  a  time  when  politics  ran  high.  These 
celebrations  have  improved  since ;  but  he  was  sorry  to  hear 
that  to-day  that  improvement  has  been  checked  by  an  effort 
to  make  one  party  appear  to  be  the  guardian  of  the  nation- 
ality of  this  city ;  and  for  the  honor  of  the  city  he  hoped  it 
would  never  be  made  again. 

On  the  way  here  he  was  told  by  a  friend  whom  he  re- 
spected and  loved,  that  this  was  to  be  a  Black  Republican 
affair,  and  that  the  national  celebration  was  elsewhere.  Now 
if  the  sentiments  which  we  have  heard  to-day  are  Black  Re- 
publican sentiments,  let  us  have  some  more  of  them. 


57 


He  saw  here  many  friends  of  various  politics  —  old  Whigs 
and  National  Americans,  and  those  who  call  themselves 
American  Republicans  —  and  he  believed  that  he  spoke  the 
mind  of  every  one  of  them  when  he  said  that  the  old  town  of 
Boston  was  national  when  the  nation  was  born ;  that  it  had 
been  so  ever  since  j  that  it  is  so  now,  and  would  be  forever. 

If  he  were  to  give  a  toast  he  would  give  this : 

TTie  City  of  Boston  —  May  she  continue  to  he,  as  she  always  has 
been,  the  bright  north  star  of  national  liberty,  from  which  the  people  of 
the  country  may  always  take  a  safe  reckoning. 

The  sixth  regular  toast  was  : 

The  Orator  of  the  Day  —  Whose  eloquence  has  given  an  additional 
lustre  to  his  words  of  wisdom  ;  may  his  broad  and  patriotic  sentiments 
cause  us  to  prize  our  country  with  the  pride  of  true  Americans. 

To  this  sentiment  John  S.  Holmes^  Esq.,  the  orator  of 
the  day,  responded  as  follows  :  — 

Mr.  Mayor  and  Gentlemen  :  If  I  did  not  know  that  the 
laudatory  toast  to  which  I  am  called  to  respond  was  made 
by  custom  a  necessary  part  of  this  occasion,  I  would  not 
venture  to  utter  one  syllable.  I  am  not  an  eloquent  man; 
and  after  listening  to  the  goldendipped  orator  whose  voice 
still  lingers  in  our  charmed  ears  —  looking  upon  that  majestic 
presence  whose  stately  wisdom  has  so  often  been  echoed  by 
these  walls  —  no  man  dare  think  himself  eloquent,  much  less 
could  any  sane  man  dare  to  intimate  or  receive  intimation 
that  he  was  eloquent.  I  thank  you  most  heartily,  gentlemen, 
for  the  gracious  kindness  with  which  this  day  you  have 
received  my  imperfect  attempt  to  set  forth  our  duty  to  the 
great  Past  of  our  country.  If  I  have  quickened  one  feeling 
of  patriotic  devotion  to  this  noble  land  —  if  a  stronger,  purer 
impulse  has  been  given  to  one  mind,  I  am  largely  rewarded 
for  my  endeavor. 


58 


From  the  temper  of  this  occasion  I  know  that  to-day  we 
all  are  stirred  by  emotions  of  unalterable  love  of  the  Ameri- 
can Union ;  that  here,  on  the  soil  of  old  Massachusetts,  there 
stands  a  race  as  eager  and  ready  to  maintain  the  liberties  of 
this  great  people  as  our  fathers  were  to  win  them.  What 
dark  destiny  may  threaten  any  other  part  of  this  confedera- 
tion I  know  not ;  but  of  this  —  by  all  that  the  Old  Bay  State 
has  been  —  by  the  rising  patriotism  of  her  children  —  by 
the  hearty  exultation  of  this  day  and  this  hour — I  am  assured, 
that  anarchy  and  dissension  and  lawlessness  will  never  find  a 
home  or  asylum  here. 

I  beg  leave  to  give  you,  Mr.  Mayor  and  gentlemen,  as  a 
sentiment  — 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  —  The  Magna  Cbarta  of 
American  Liberty  —  to  be  preserved  in  the  reverence,  to  be  sustained  by 
the  obedience  of  the  people  of  the  land. 

The  seventh  regular  toast  was  : 

The  Queen  of  Great  Britain  —  Her  virtues  have  gained  her  more 
hearts  than  her  throne  has  subjects. 

The  Hon.  Joseph  Howe^  of  Halifax^  Nova  Scotia^  was 
called  upon  to  respond,  and  said  :  — 

Me.  Mayor  and  Gentlemen  :  To  be  called  upon  on  such 
an  occasion,  to  respond  in  such  a  place,  to  such  a  toast,  I 
regard  as  an  honor  and  a  distinction  —  the  highest  ever  con- 
ferred upon  me  abroad — the  highest  that  can  be  conferred  on 
a  British  subject  by  the  people  of  these  States.  Sir,  as  I 
have  of  late  rambled  through  New  England,  I  have  been 
pleased  to  mark  how  ancient  prejudices  have  been  toned 
down  —  how  the  angry  passions,  excited  by  two  wars,  have 
subsided ;  but  I  hardly  expected  to  hear,  in  old  Faneuil  Hall, 
the  health  of  my  sovereign  toasted  on  such  a  day  with  so 
much  genuine  enthusiasm.  With  all  my  heart  I  thank  you. 
In  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  my  Queen  I  thank  you,  and 


59 


three  millions  of  North  Americans;  when  they  hear  of  this 
compliment,  will  thank  you  also. 

I  wish,  Mr.  Mayor,  that  Queen  Victoria  could  be  presented 
to  the  admiring  gaze  of  the  citizens  of  Boston.  That  she 
could  be  here  in  person,  to  be  seen  of  all  men,  as  she  is  ever 
seen,  on  all  suitable  occasions,  mingling  with  her  people.  As 
republicans  you  may  not  be  very  fond  of  queens,  but  as  men 
you  are  fond  of  beautiful  and  accomplished  women. 

We  honor  our  sovereign  because  we  love  liberty;  because 
our  monarch  is  our  chief  magistrate.  We  maintain  a  throne 
because  our  liberties  and  franchises  are  thereby  bulwarked 
and  sustained.  We  uphold  and  maintain  royal  prerogatives 
because  they  give  grace  and  strength  to  that  great  constitu- 
tional system  which,  cemented  by  the  blood  of  our  fathers, 
yields  to  the  pressure  of  modern  civilization  and  supplies  all 
the  guards  which  ardent  lovers  of  freedom  can  demand.  We 
honor  our  sovereign,  then,  when  a  man  sits  upon  the  throne  j 
but  when  it  is  occupied  by  a  gifted,  accomplished  woman,  we 
love  her,  and  are  not  ashamed  to  avow  the  weakness,  if  it  be 
one,  before  all  the  world.  Queen  Victoria  sets,  to  all  her 
subjects,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  example  of  a  good  wife,  of  a 
devoted  mother  —  of  an  accomplished  lady,  wise  in  art  and 
literature,  but  wiser  still  in  the  domestic  virtues  which  embel- 
lish palaces  and  cottages  alike,  and  therefore  it  is  that  we 
thank  God  that  in  Queen  Victoria  we  have  not  only  got  a 
constitutional  monarch,  but  an  example  for  our  wives  and 
daughters. 

Mr.  Mayor,  I  never  come  to  Boston  without  feeling  that  I 
am  at  home,  for  I  find  friends  everywhere,  and  relatives  not  a 
few.  I  have  partaken,  on  former  occasions,  of  its  unbounded 
hospitality.  We  have  not  forgotten,  in  the  Provinces  —  who 
that  was  present  will  ever  forget  ? — the  noble  celebration  with 
which  you  inaugurated  your  great  public  works.  I  told  you 
on  that  occasion  that  my  father  was  a  Boston  boy.  He,  like 
Franklin,  and  like  the  Governor  of  your  State,  (who  has  just 


60 


done  himself  honor  by  referring  to  the  fact,)  learned  the  print- 
ing business  in  this  city.  He  had  just  completed  his  appren- 
ticeship, and  was  engaged  to  a  very  pretty  girl,  when  the 
Revolution  broke  out.  He  saw  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill 
from  one  of  the  old  houses  here  —  he  nursed  the  wounded 
when  it  was  over.  Adhering  to  the  British  side,  he  was 
driven  out  at  the  evacuation,  and  retired  to  Newport,  where 
his  betrothed  followed  him.  They  were  married  there,  and 
afterwards  settled  at  Halifax.  He  left  all  his  household 
goods  and  gods  behind  him,  carrying  away  nothing  but  his 
principles  and  the  pretty  girl. 

The  loyalists  who  left  these  States  were  not,  it  must  be 
confessed,  as  good  republicans  as  you  are ;  but  they  loved 
liberty  under  their  old  forms,  and  their  descendants  love  it 
too.  My  father,  though  a  true  Briton  to  the  day  of  his  deatli, 
loved  New  England,  and  old  Boston  especially,  with  filial 
regard.  He  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  serving  a  Boston 
man,  if  in  his  power.  At  the  close  of  your  railway  banquet 
one  gentleman  told  me  that  my  father  had,  during  the  last 
war,  taken  his  father  from  the  military  prison  at  Melville 
Island,  and  sent  him  back  to  Boston.  Another,  on  the  same 
evening,  showed  me  a  gold  watch  sent  by  an  uncle  who 
died  in  the  West  Indies,  to  his  family.  It  was  pawned  by 
a  sailor  in  Halifax,  but  redeemed  by  my  father,  and  sent 
to  the  dead  man's  relatives.  And  so  it  was  all  his  life.  He 
loved  his  sovereign,  but  he  loved  Boston  too ;  and  whenever 
he  got  sick  in  his  latter  days,  we  used  to  send  him  up  here  to 
recruit.  A  sight  of  the  old  scenes,  and  a  walk  upon  Boston 
Common,  were  sure  to  do  him  good,  and  he  generally  came 
back  uncommonly  well. 

Though  bound  to  say  thus  much,  sir,  for  my  sovereign  and 
my  father,  —  for  myself,  what  can  I  say  ?  I  feel  very  much 
like  the  man  bidden  to  the  feast  without  a  wedding  garment. 
How  can  I  clothe  my  thoughts  in  language  to  win  even  the 
indulgence  of  an  audience  whose  ears  have  been  charmed  by 


61 


the  great  orator  of  New  England,  —  may  I  not  say  of  North 
America? — for  we  have  no  man  to  match  him,  whatever  there 
may  be  at  the  South.  Your  city  pageants,  your  civic  feasts, 
are  imposing  and  attractive ;  but  these  are  everywhere  — 
great  orators  are  not.  You  are  indeed  fortunate  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  man  who  gives  to  our  land's  language  its  strength 
unimpaired  by  the  highest  embellishment.  'The  Indian  draws 
from  the  maple  the  bow  wherewith  he  kills  his  game,  and  the 
sap  with  which  he  sweetens  his  repast.  Mr.  Everett  draws 
from  the  same  large  growth  and  cultivation,  the  arguments 
by  which  he  sustains  the  great  reputations  and  great  interests 
of  his  country,  and  the  honeyed  accents  which  give  to  scenes 
like  this  the  sweet  cement  of  social  life.     The  ancients 

"  Threw  pearls  of  great  price  in  tlicir  goblets  of  gold, 
When  to  those  that  they  honored  they  quaffed." 

He  melts  into  our  cups  the  rich  ingots  of  his  imagination, 
and  every  man  who  listens  to  him  is  intellectually  richer  for 
the  drauQ^ht. 

I  rejoice,  sir,  that  the  small  clouds  which  threatened  to 
darken  the  counsels  and  disturb  the  peace  of  our  two  nations 
have  passed  away;  and  I  am  glad  that  British  statesmen  have 
had  the  magnanimity  and  discretion  to  throw  over,  at  once 
and  forever,  a  claim  or  pretension  which,  among  commercial 
nations,  in  the  present  age  of  the  world,  can  never  be  sus- 
tained. Stop  your  vessels  on  the  high  seas  !  we  might  as  well 
claim  to  stop  women  in  the  streets  to  ascertain  if  they  were 
virtuous  —  to  stop  letters  or  telegraphic  messages  coming 
into  your  country,  for  fear  that  they  might  contain  something 
wrong.  If  we  can  stop  your  vessels  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
what  should  hinder  you  to  stop  ours  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy, 
and  how  would  we  North  Americans  like  that  ? 

The  whole  proceedings  of  this  day,  sir,  so  far  as  I  have 
witnessed  them,  have  been  to  me  deeply  interesting,  and 
highly  honorable  to  this  State.     The  orators  of  the  day  have 


62 


not  imitated  the  bad  example  of  some  that  I  have  heard  else- 
where, who  would  perpetuate  the  animosities  of  the  past,  and 
make  history  a  consuming  fire.  I  have  listened  to  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  as  I  always  do,  not  without 
emotions  of  various  kinds,  but  with  emotions  similar  to  those 
with  which  I  read  our  great  Charter,  and  Bill  of  Rights,  or 
any  other  eloquent  protests  against  the  injustice  and  bar- 
barities of  the  past. 

I  have  never  regarded  England  in  the  days  of  Lord  North, 
as  anything  to  be  very  proud  of,  any  more  than  you  are  very 
proud  of  New  Amsterdam  under  Peter  Stuyvesant.  But 
judge  not  the  British  Empire  by  what  it  was  in  1772,  but  as 
it  is  in  1858.  The  British  Islands  are  now  the  centres  of  a 
vast  commerce  —  the  seats  of  science  and  skilled  labor  — 
the  fountain  heads  of  capital  overflowing  in  honest  enterprise 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  Forty  States  and  Provinces, 
containing  300,000,000  of  people,  are  combined  by  their 
diplomacy  and  defended  by  their  arms.  The  England  that 
oppressed  you  had  but  little  liberty  herself,  and  the  Colonies 
that  remained  faithful  to  her  had  less.  But  how  has  all  this 
changed  since  1772  !  We  have  limited  the  prerogative  —  we 
have  reformed  our  laws  —  we  have  purified  our  courts  —  we 
have  enfranchised  men  of  all  creeds  and  all  professions,  abol- 
ished monopolies,  established  free  trade,  and  emancipated 
our  slaves  while  extending  our  empire. 

England  is  no  longer  the  harsh  mother  country  against 
whom  that  old  bill  of  indictment  was  filed.  She  is  founding 
new  provinces  every  day,  training  them  in  the  practice  of 
freedom  and  in  the  arts  of  life ;  and,  when  they  are  prepared 
for  self-government,  she  does  not  force  them  into  declarations 
of  independence,  but  gracefully  concedes  to  them  the  right  to 
make  their  own  constitutions,  and  to  change  and  modify  them 
from  time  to  time.  We  North  Americans  may  have  had  our 
grievances  in  the  olden  time.  We  may  have  had  our  own 
contests  with  besotted  statesmen  and  absurd  systems,  but 


63 


now  we  are  as  free  as  you.  We  govern  ourselves  as  com- 
pletely as  any  of  your  independent  States.  We  have  uni- 
versal suffrage  and  responsible  government.  You  may  some- 
times have  to  endure  a  bad  administration  for  four  years ;  we 
can  overthrow  a  bad  one  by  a  single  resolution,  on  any  day 
of  the  year  when  our  parliaments  are  in  session.  Think  of 
US;  then,  as  we  really  are,  your  equals  in  'many  respects,  — 
your  rivals,  it  may  be,  in  all  things  honorable,  but  ever  your 
brethren,  your  friends,  your  neighbors. 

You  have  drank  to  my  sovereign,  Mr.  Mayor.  I  would 
gladly  respond,  if  I  am  permitted,  by  toasting  those  who  rule 
over  you,  in  spite  of  all  your  boasted  liberties,  who  reign 
supreme  in  your  affections.  To  me  it  seems  that  the  ladies 
of  Boston,  though  not  less  lovely,  have  marvellously  increased 
in  size  since  I  last  saw  them.  Fashion  inflates  us  in  the 
Provinces  a  good  deal,  but  you  beat  us  in  expansion.  White- 
field,  preaching  about  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  used  this 
language :  "  As  I  passed  over  your  country,  I  saw  your  young 
maidens  clad  in  their  homespun  garments.  Would  that  I 
could  see  them  clad  in  homespun  righteousness."  What 
would  the  great  preacher  say  if  he  saw  them  now  ?  Jack, 
when  remonstrated  with  for  beating  his  wife,  and  told  she 
was  "  the  weaker  vessel,"  exclaimed,  "  If  she  is,  why  do  n't 
she  carry  less  sail?  "  Jack's  complaint  is  becoming  general. 
There  is  a  terrible  sight  of  sail  carried,  but  the  craft  are 
weatherly  and  lovely  to  behold.  Even  Whitefield  might 
mistake  the  pretty  girls  of  Boston  for  angels  peeping  out  of 
clouds  of  crinoline  and  lace. 

Of  our  North  American  women  I  will  say  nothing.  Come 
over  and  see  them.  Dine  with  us,  and  you  will  find  our 
hearts  as  light  as  your  own.  Mingle  with  us  in  the  dance, 
and  beauty  and  refinement  shall  lead  you  through  its  mazes. 
Our  national  festivals  may  not  be  so  much  to  your  taste,  but 
you  shall  have  at  least  a  hearty  welcome. 


64 
Mr.  Howe  closed  his  speech  by  giving : 

The  Ladies  of  the   City  of  Boston. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Howe's  remarks,  the  com- 
pany rose  and  remained  standing  while  the  band  played 
"  God  save  the  Queen." 

The  eighth  regular  toast  was  : 

The  Clergy  of  the  Revolution  —  Not  inferior  to  their  fellow-citizens 
in  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of  liberty. 

Rev.  S.  K.  LoTHROP,  D.  D.,  the  chaplain  of  the  day, 
responded  :  — 

Mr.  Mayor  :  I  rise  in  obedience  to  your  call ;  but  before 
saying  anything  on  the  subject  specially  suggested  by  the  sen- 
timent in  honor  of  the  revolutionary  clergy,  to  which  you  have 
summoned  me  to  respond,  I  cannot  forbear  to  say  a  word  in 
reply  to  the  interesting  and  eloquent  remarks  just  made  by 
the  gentleman  from  Halifax.  We  have  all  listened  with 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  to  what  he  has  said  with  such  frank 
and  hearty  earnestness  ]  and  I  am  certain,  sir,  that  I  may 
assure  him,  in  behalf  of  us  all,  that  we  heartily  reciprocate 
every  expression  of  cordial  feeling,  of  kindly  sympathy,  of 
broad,  generous  interest,  which  has  fallen  from  his  lips,  and 
hope  with  him  that  the  relations  between  our  country  and  the 
British  Provinces  in  North  America,  and  between  us  and  the 
old  mother  of  us  all  across  the  water,  may  be  more  and  more 
intimate,  and  the  bonds  of  peace  between  two  nations  kindred 
in  race,  language,  and  the  spirit  of  their  institutions,  may 
remain  unbroken  forever. 

I  had  hoped,  Mr.  Mayor,  —  I  regret  that  the  hope  has  not 
been  fulfilled,  —  I  had  hoped  that  it  might  so  happen  that 
the  Niagara,  in  the  successful  completion  of  that  grand 
work,  the  laying  of  the   ocean  telegraph   cable   along  the 


65 


deep  bed  of  the  Atlantic,  would  enter  her  destined  port 
in  Newfoundland  on  the  Fourth  of  July ;  that  thus  this  anni- 
versary which  commemorates  now  our  political  severance 
from  Great  Britain,  might  hereafter,  through  this  glorious 
achievement  of  science  and  skill,  commemorate  also  our 
indissoluble  union,  by  a  bond,  physical  in  its  nature,  but 
eminently  moral  and  social  in  its  influence  * — an  ocean-bedded 
artery,  through  whose  quivering  pulsations,  thought,  feel- 
ing, affection,  opinion,  the  moral  life-blood  of  a  nation,  might 
pass  and  repass,  as  rapidly  as  the  blood  circulates  through 
the  individual  frame ;  and  thus  the  two  nations  become  one 
in  all  the  interests  and  influences  that  elevate  and  adorn 
our  common  humanity.  But  should  the  great  enterprise  to 
which  I  have  alluded  fail,  fail  altogether,  there  are  still 
ties  between  us  and  Great  Britain  which  should  never  be 
broken.  In  both  countries  it  is,  or  it  should  be,  the  prayer 
of  every  Christian  and  patriot  heart,  that  the  peace  between 
us  may  be  as  perpetual  as  it  is  beneficial  to  ourselves  and  to 
the  world. 

And  now,  Mr.  Mayor,  to  come  to  the  sentiment  in  connec- 
tion with  which  you  have  called  me  up,  how  shall  I  venture  to 
speak  for  the  clergy  of  the  Revolution  ?  Fortunately,  sir,  they 
need  no  man  to  speak  for  them  j  their  deeds  and  characters 
are  matters  of  history,  and  speak  for  themselves.  We  all  know 
that  throughout  our  revolutionary  conflict,  in  the  discussions 
which  preceded  the  declaration  of  independence,  and  in  the 
struggles  through  which  that  declaration  was  upheld  and  con- 
firmed before  the  world,  the  great  mass  of  the  clergy,  with  as 
few  exceptions  as  in  any  department  of  life,  were  on  the  side 
of  the  Colonies,  and  exerted  no  little  influence,  made  no  small 
sacrifices,  in  behalf  of  the -cause  they  had  espoused.  Many  of 
them  were  in  the  field,  ready,  not  only  to  preach  and  pray  for 
liberty,  but  to  fight  for  it,  and,  if  need  be,  to  die  for  it. 

I  thank  you,  sir,  for  the  allusion  you  were  pleased  to  make 
in  your  remarks  to  Brattle  Street  Church,  of  which  I  have  the 


66 

happiness  to  be  the  pastor.  The  edifice,  among  the  four  or 
five  oldest  in  the  city,  is  well  known  among  us  as  the  "  Cannon- 
ball  Church."  It  was  a  mark  for  the  patriots  during  the 
siege,  being  used  as  a  barrack,  and  filled  with  British  troops ; 
and  it  was  a  mark  for  the  petty  spite  of  those  troops,  or  their 
ofl&cers,  the  memorial  of  which  is  still  to  be  seen  on  one  of 
the  corner-stones,  where  by  dint  of  mallet  and  chisel  they 
erased  the  name  of  John  Hancock,  originally  carved  upon  it. 
John  Hancock  worshipped  in  that  church,  and  other  noble 
patriots  of  that  day  worshipped  there ;  and  I  may  venture  to 
say,  sir,  that  during  our  whole  revolutionary  struggle,  there 
was  gathered  under  no  roof  in  the  country  a  body  of  men 
more  faithful  and  devoted  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  than  the 
men  who  gathered,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  in  that  church;  and 
no  man  in  this  town,  certainly  no  clergyman,  rendered  more 
aid  to  that  cause  than  did  Dr.  Samuel  Cooper,  then  pastor,  by 
his  pen,  his  speech,  and  his  personal  influence. 

It  would  have  been  strange,  Mr.  Mayor,  if  the  clergy,  in  our 
revolutionary  struggle  had  not  been  found  on  the  side  of  lib- 
erty. When  advocates  of  arbitrary  and  despotic  power,  they 
are  false  to  the  spirit  and  tendency  of  the  religion  they  are  set 
to  teach  and  defend.  Happily  such  advocates  are  rarely  found 
among  them.  In  general,  the  clergy  have  in  every  nation  been 
true  to  the  liberties  of  the  nation,  and  so,  faithful  to  the 
Gospel  of  Christ ;  for  that  Gospel  is  at  once  the  source  and 
the  security  of  civil  liberty.  All  the  civil  liberty  now  enjoyed 
by  any  community  in  Christendom  has  emanated  from  the 
Gospel,  is  the  product  of  the  teachings  and  the  truths  of  that 
Gospel.  The  martyr  has  always  in  Christian  history  preceded 
the  patriot.  The  struggle  for  religious  liberty,  for  "  freedom 
to  worship  God,"  has  led  the  way  to  the  struggle  for  civil 
liberty,  and  taught  the  principles,  and  given  the  inspiration, 
through  which  men  have  triumphed  in  that  struggle,  and  secured 
the  civil  liberty  they  now  enjoy.  Even  Mr.  Howe  tells  us,  — 
and  if  he  admits,  we  need  not  question  it,  —  that  the  people 


67 


of  England  owe  all  the  liberty  enjoyed  under  their  Constitu- 
tion to  the  Puritans.  Our  liberty  is  to  be  traced  back  to  the 
same  source,  and  through  the  Puritans  to  the  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples of  the  Gospel.  Our  liberty  had  a  religious  origin,  and 
it  has  no  security  or  defence  but  in  religion.  Constitutions, 
laws,  policies,  trade,  commerce,  manufactures  —  these  things 
have  their  place  and  importance ;  due  regard  must  ever  be 
paid  to  them ;  but  ultimately  the  peace,  progress,  prosperity, 
glory,  safety  of  this  country,  rest  upon  the  intelligent  reli- 
gious belief  and  moral  principle  of  the  people.  The  strain 
in  the  great  experiment  we  are  trying  is  to  be  at  this  point — 
on  the  religious  belief  and  moral  principle  of  the  people.  If 
these  fail,  all  fails ;  if  these  hold,  all  is  secure.  If  the  people 
of  this  country  are  able  to  retain  their  religious  faith  and 
moral  principle ;  if  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
penetrate  and  pervade  their  hearts,  and  become  the  law  of 
their  life,  —  then  liberty  is  safe,  the  country  is  safe.  Through 
various  trials  and  conflicts  it  will  work  its  way  to  a  grand 
and  glorious  destiny,  and  exert  a  blessed  and  beneficial  influ- 
ence upon  the  world.  In  harmony  with  these  thoughts  I  offer 
this  sentiment: 

The  Patriotism  which  has  its  foundation  in  piety,  and  the  moral 
principle  which  rests  upon  faith  in  the  Grospel  of  Christ.  Let  these  be 
strong  in  the  hearts  of  this  people,  and  the  prosperity  and  glory,  as 
well  as  the  liberty  of  our  country,  will  be  perpetual. 

The  ninth  regular  toast  was  : 

The  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States. 

The  Mayor  here  read  the  following  letter :  — 

West  Point,  New  York,  June  10,  1858. 
To  His  Honor,  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor  of  Boston. 

Dear  Sir  :  My  obhgations  to  Boston,  and,  indeed,  to  the  whole 
State  of  Massachusetts,  are  numerous  and  abiding.  I  never  recur  to 
them  without  pride  and  pleasure.  Your  handsome  invitation  to  join  in 
celebrating  the  approaching  national  anniversary  in  Faneuil  Hall  adds  a 


68 


new  one.  But  although  there  is  nowhere  a  place  I  should  visit  with 
equal  pleasure,  I  find  it  necessary  to  decline  the  honor.  I  am  much 
worn  in  the  public  service,  and  for  the  future  must  avoid  all  public 
entertainments  and  high  excitements. 

With  high  respect  and  esteem,  T  remain 

Your  obedient  servant, 

WINFIELD  SCOTT. 

Col.  E.  G.  Pakker,  senior  aid  to  His  Excellency  the 
Governor^  being  requested  to  respond  to  the  toast  to 
the  army  and  navy^  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

Mr.  Mayor:  After  the  great  exhibition  of  eloquence  to 
which  we  have  listened  (Mr.  Everett's),  and  at  this  late  hour, 
it  would  be  idle  to  attempt  a  speech  which  should  in  any  just 
degree  be  adequate  to  the  deservings  of  the  American  army 
and  navy.  Besides,  1  have  been  so  entirely  spell-bound  and 
absorbed  by  the  magic  of  this  oratory,  that  my  own  thoughts 
have  been  scattered  as  by  red-hot  shot.  But  I  rejoice,  in  com- 
mon with  you  all,  to  have  heard  that  beautiful  tongue,  and  in 
common  with  all  young  men  I  would  pay  my  passing  tribute 
to  its  master.  He  has,  as  he  has  told  you,  returned  to  us  from 
what  we  may  call  his  Washington  campaign  —  a  course  of  ac- 
tion in  which  he  has  been  erecting  his  own  monument  while 
building  another's  —  a  career  which  entitles  him  to  be  called 
the  modern  Peter  the  Hermit.  For,  like  the  hermit  of  history, 
Edward  Everett  has  gone  about  a  continent,  preaching  the 
rescue  of  another  holy  sepulchre  from  the  grasp  of  an  impious 
hand.  To  him,  then,  I  accord  my  humble  tribute  of  homage, 
and  pass  again  to  my  text. 

The  army  and  the  navy  of  America,  indeed,  need  no  pane- 
gyric. This  day  speaks  for  them,  this  hall  speaks  for  them. 
These  bannered  arches,  these  pictured  memories,  and  this 
glad,  triumphal  music,  all  speak  their  proud  eulogium.  But 
in  the  American  soldier,  your  toast  said  there  was  ever  pres- 
ent a  gallantry  as  bright  as  the  steel  of  the  sword  upon  his 


69 


thigh.  Sir,  no  man  can  be  a  gallant  man  who  is  not  a  gentle- 
man ;  and  it  is  the  first  quality  of  a  soldier  gentleman,  never 
to  abuse  a  fallen  foe,  and  never  to  insult  one  helpless  and 
tongue-tied  before  him. 

And,  sir,  besides  these  qualities  of  chivalry,  there  is  also  in 
the  American  soldier's  heart,  I  know,  a  true  and  universal 
j)atriotism.  He  knows  no  North,  no  South,  i;io  East,  no  West. 
He  goes  for  his  "  country,  however  bounded,  and  by  whatever 
waters  washed;"  and  when  you  have  combined  these  qualities 
together  in  a  man  —  the  gentleman,  the  patriot,  the  warrior 
—  then  you  have  a  combination  upon  which  victory  must  ever 
set  the  seal  of  her  success,  and  stamp  him  conqueror. 

The  tenth  regular  toast  was : 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  —  Let  us  not,  in  adoration  of  the 
sentiments  it  contains,  forget  that  those  sentiments  are  the  representa- 
tives of  the  most  sacred  list  of  names  in  the  history  of  the  American 
people. 

Mr.  Daniel  K.  Foed,  the  reader  of  the  Declaration, 
responded  as  follows  :  — 

Mr.  Mayor  and  Gentlemen  :  It  would  be  a  usurpation  of 
time  if  I,  standing  as  I  do  among  so  many  able  and  expe-. 
rienced  speakers,  should  have  the  presumption  to  attempt 
what  might  worthily  be  called  a  speech;  but  when  in  the 
course  of  human  events  it  becomes  necessary  for  speeches  to 
be  made,  I  think  it  to  be  the  duty  of  each  individual  who 
may  be  called  upon,  to  endeavor  to  say  something. 

On  tliis  particular  occasion  we  should  give  utterance  to  our 
thoughts  in  an  independent  manner,  there  being  no  reason 
for  the  least  manifestation  of  diffidence,  for  we  are  all  near 
our  Holmes  (orator  of  the  day). 

I  heartily  appreciate  the  sentiment  which  has  called  me 
before  you.    It  reminds  me  of  a  passage  in  Scripture, — '^  The 


70 


good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit."  It  would  have  us  like 
the  farmer,  who,  while  he  admires  and  enjoys  the  fruit,  is  ever 
anxious  to  pay  a  proper  regard  to  the  tree.  To  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  City  of  Boston  I  would  return  my  sincere  thanks 
for  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  in  their  selection  of  a  person 
to  read  to  you  the  independent  declaration  of  our  fathers,  — 
a  proclamation  of  rights  distinctly  but  justly  declared,  bravely 
defended,  and  omnipotently  triumphant.  I  hope  I  have  neither 
disappointed  those  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  so  pleasant  a 
duty,  nor  violated  the  confidence  placed  in  the  ability  of 
the  present  City  Government  to  provide  for  a  proper  celebra- 
tion of  the  anniversary  of  a  day  so  dear  to  every  true  Ameri- 
can heart.  In  conclusion  I  will  propose  the  following  senti- 
ment : 

The  Present  Government  of  the  City  of  Boston  —  A  perfect  chain, 
which  needs  no  better  Linc-oln  (His  Honor  the  Mayor). 

The  seventh  regular  toast  was : 

The  Legislature  of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  —  Early,  active, 
and  unwavering  friends  of  American  Independence ;  may  their  spirit 
ever  animate  their  successors. 

In  response  to  this  sentiment  the  Hon.  Charles  A. 
Phelps  said : 

He  would  not,  at  this  late  hour,  intrude  upon  the  gentle- 
men present  with  any  extended  remarks.  He  desired,  how- 
ever, to  offer  his  acknowledgments  for  the  sentiment  compli- 
mentary to  the  Legislature. 

I  feel,  said  he,  that  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here.  We  have 
assembled  to  celebrate  one  of  the  grandest  events  in  human 
history.  Honored,  forever  honored,  be  the  memory  of  the 
heroes  of  tlie  Revolution.  No  homage  which  we  can  render 
to  their  memories,  however  great  or  oft  renewed,  can  be 
undeserved.     I  have  sometimes  feared  that  as  the  years  pass 


71 


away,  the  celebration  of  this  day  may  lose  something  of  its 
significance  to  our  minds,  and  become  a  matter  of  form  and 
ceremony,  and  not  of  feeling.  But  wherever  else  its  com- 
memoration may  be  omitted  or  misused,  to  us  it  should  always 
bring  eloquent  utterances.  I  trust  the  time  will  never  come 
when  the  Fourth  of  July  shall  fail  to  receive  civic  honors 
from  our  city.  And  for  one,  I  could  wish  that  on  this  day 
Faneuil  Hall  might  always  be  open,  adorned  with  garlands, 
graced  with  victorious  wreaths,  and  giving  back  the  shouts  of 
patriotic  Americans,  as  in  the  days  of  '76.  And  may  the  love- 
cup  which  to-day  passes  from  lip  to  lip  be  untainted  with  the 
bitter  poison  of  political  hate. 

Our  Revolution  was  as  peculiar  in  its  character  as  it  has 
been  in  its  results.  I  respond  fully  to  the  sentiments  ex- 
pressed by  the  eloquent  gentleman  from  Halifax  who  preceded 
me.  It  was  not  so  much  a  war  between  the  people  of  England 
and  the  people  of  America,  as  a  war  of  the  tory  party  in  Eng- 
land, who  were  then  in  power  —  a  war  between  the  colonists 
on  the  one  side,  and  an  infatuated  and  deluded  ministry,  aided 
and  encouraged  by  an  ignorant  and  obstinate  king,  on  the 
other.  Chatham,  in  that  most  masterly  speech  on  removing 
the  troops  from  Boston,  thundered  to  the  House  of  Lords  in 
his  boldest  tones,  "  The  glorious  spirit  which  animates  three 
millions  of  Americans  is  aided,  I  hope,  to  the  amount  of 
double  that  number  in  England."  The  sympathy  of  the  great 
Whig  party  of  England  was  with  America  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end.  It  is  pleasant  to  recall  these  facts,  and  to  know 
that  in  freshening  the  memories  of  our  heroic  age,  we  are  not 
to  be  supposed  to  be  cherishing  a  degrading  malice  toward 
the  English  people  of  our  own  day.  The  interests  of  the  two 
nations  are  closely  allied.  And  I  rejoice  to  believe,  from  the 
report  of  the  discussions  in  Parliament  received  by  the  last 
steamer,  that  the  clouds  which  awhile  since  seemed  threat- 
ening to  darken  the  horizon,  are,  or  will  be,  literally,  "  in  the 
deep  bosom  of  the  ocean  buried."     Let  us  maintain  unsullied 


72 


the  honor  of  our  flag,  and  the  sacrcdness  of  our  soil ;  and  may 
there  in  the  future  be  between  England  and  America  no 
rivalry  but  a  rivalry  in  the  arts  of  peace;  no  contest  but  a 
contest  to  win  the  highest  triumphs  of  modern  Christian  civil- 
ization. 

Mr.  Mayor,  we  meet  to-day  as  Americans.  We  are  here  to 
cherish  no  local  pride  j  but  nevertheless,  we  need  not,  we 
cannot,  forget  the  early  and  distinguished  part  which  Massa- 
chusetts and  the  town  of  Boston  bore  in  the  memorable  strug- 
gle for  independence.  The  history  of  the  times  furnishes 
abundant  evidence  of  this.  I  remember  to  have  read  that  as 
early  as  July,  1775,  Gen.  Gage,  writing  from  this  place  to 
Lord  Dartmouth,  said,  "  This  province  began  the  rebellion ; 
indeed,  I  may  say  this  town,  for  here  the  arch-rebels  formed 
their  scheme  long  ago."  Honor,  I  say,  to  those  "  arch- 
rebels  !  "  We  will  bless  their  memories  while  we  live,  and 
hand  their  fame  to  our  children  after  us.  Yes,  sir,  formida- 
ble as  was  the  conflict  involved,  the  declaration  of  independ- 
ence was  hailed  nowhere  with  more  delight  than  in  this  sec- 
tion of  our  country. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  occurrences  of  the  Revolution 
connected  with  the  Brattle  Street  Church.  This  has  reminded 
me  of  an  incident  associated  with  another  of  our  churches. 

History  tells  us  that  on  the  night  preceding  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  the  British  troops  embarked  at  the  foot  of  the 
Common,  landed  on  the  marshes  at  East  Cambridge,  and  took 
up  their  line  of  march  for  Concord.  Their  movements  were 
observed,  and  Warren  despatched  Col.  Revere  to  Lexington, 
to  inform  the  proscribed  patriots,  Hancock  and  Adams,  that 
the  troops  had  left  the  city.  It  had  previously  been  agreed 
that  the  departure  of  the  enemy  should  be  made  known  by  a 
light  which  was  displayed  from  the  spire  of  the  old  North 
Church.  And  this  was  the  first  beacon  fire  in  the  war  of  in- 
dependence !  And  thus  the  people  were  called  to  arms ! 
That  little  light  —  why,  sir,  it  will  flame  down  the  long  path- 


73 

way  of  the  centuries,  for  it  lighted  a  nation  to  liberty.  It 
may  well  symbolize  to  our  imaginations  that  torch  of  Free- 
dom which,  passed  from  nation  to  nation,  is  yet  to  make  the 
tour  of  the  world,  and  of  which  the  poet  has  sung  in  those 
heart-stirring  words, — 

"  Shine,  shine  forever,  glorious  Flame,  . 

Divinest  gift  of  gods  to  men  ! 
Take,  Freedom,  take  thy  radiant  round  ; 

When  dimmed,  revive  —  when  lost,  return, 
Till  not  a  shrine  on  earth  be  found, 

On  which  thy  glories  shall  not  burn  !  " 

The  night  preceding  the  battle  of  Lexington !  Warren ! 
Hancock  I  Adams  !  Revere  !  —  what  thoughts  and  emotions 
rise  as  we  speak  these  words  to-day !  Ah !  if  that  night  an 
unseen  hand  could  have  lifted  the  curtain  of  the  future,  how 
would  their  souls  have  been  enraptured  with  the  view !  How 
amazed  if  a  voice  could  have  said,  "  To-night  your  hearts  are 
overwhelmed  with  gloom,  but  with  the  morrow's  rising  sun  a 
blow  will  have  been  struck  which  will  free  America  forever 
from  the  dominion  of  England  on  land  and  sea.  Within  less 
than  a  twelvemonth,  history  shall  pause  on  yonder  sacred 
mount  and  give  to  loving  memory  and  immortal  fame  the 
heroic  death  of  the  youngest  of  your  number,  Warren;  and 
then  that  hostile  army  shall  sail  down  the  harbor  of  Boston, 
leaving  only  graves  for  their  bravest  and  best,  and  along  the 
streets  of  that  devoted  town,  English  drums  shall  be  heard, 
and  English  banners  seen — no,  never  again  forever. 

"  Within  little  more  than  a  twelvemonth  two  others  of 
your  number,  Hancock  and  Adams,  shall  afi&x  their  names  to 
a  declaration  of  independence  which  shall  summon  these  now 
few  and  feeble  Colonies  to  go  forth  on  their  luminous  career 
as  sovereign  and  independent  States,  until,  in  the  language  of 
another,  they  shall  stand  on  '  the  glittering  summits  of  the 
world.'  That  little  provincial  seaport  shall  become  a  city 
of  an  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  inhabitants,  —  her  wealth 

10 


74 


shall  rival  that  of  Venice^  the  bride  of  the  seas,  —  her  ships 
shall  be  found  in  the  farthest  corners  of  the  earth,  —  her  pop- 
ulation in  intelligence  and  virtue  shall  be  second  to  none  on 
the  globe ;  —  yea,  and  within  the  life  of  those  now  living  she 
shall  call  to  the  chair  of  her  chief  magistrate,  a  grandson  of 
another  of  your  number,  Kevere ;  and  in  Faneuil  Hall  with 
grateful  affection  unite  to  celebrate  your  toils,  your  sufferings, 
and  your  undying  renown." 

No  voice  spoke  to  them  thus,  no  voice  may  speak  to  us  of 
the  future  upon  which  we  enter.  God  grant  that  when  a  sim- 
ilar period  of  time  shall  have  elapsed,  our  country  may  be  at 
peace  with  all  the  world,  happy  and  prosperous,  with  freedom 
and  freedom  only  in  all  her  borders,  then  as  now  deserving 
and  receiving  the  love  and  honor  of  all  her  sons.  But,  sir, 
without  detaining  you  longer,  I  give  you 

The  Citizens  of  Boston,  '-^  arch-rebels^^'*  in  1776 — They  were 
among  the  earliest  friends  —  may  they  also  be  among  the  latest  defenders 
of  American  Independence. 

The  twelfth  regular  toast  was  : 

The  Veterans  of  the  Army  of  1812. 

In  response  to  this  toast  Col.  Thomas  Aspinwall^ 
being  called  on  by  His  Honor  the  Mayor,  spoke  as 
follows :  — 

Mr.  Mayor  :  On  such  an  occasion  I  should  be  very  glad  to 
make  a  speech,  and  a  good  speech,  if  I  could.  But  I  believe 
there  is  a  sort  of  truth  in  the  burlesque  remark,  that  it  takes 
time  to  elaborate  an  extempore  speech;  and  until  this  mo- 
ment I  supposed  that  I  was  to  act  a  silent  part  in  the  scene. 
I  am  deeply  sensible,  sir,  of  the  honor  done  me  by  your  call ; 
and  am  indebted  entirely  to  your  courtesy  for  the  conspicu- 
ous place  assigned  me  at  your  table. 


75 

On  behalf  of  my  comrades  of  the  war  of  1812,  I  thank 
you,  sir,  for  the  honorable  notice  you  have  bestowed  on  them, 
and  I  can  bear  my  testimony  that  they  were  actuated  by  the 
same  devoted  and  patriotic  spirit  that  characterized  our  con- 
tinental army  in  the  great  revolutionary  struggle  for  national 
freedom  and  independence.  They  were  beset  with  difficulties 
from  the  outset.  They  wanted  material  supplies,  money  and 
men.  In  the  field,  the  hardships  they  had  to  endure  were 
often  extreme.  In  the  descent  of  the  St.  Lawrence  in  1813, 
for  instance,  many  soldiers  lost  their  feet  and  limbs,  and  even 
lives,  from  prolonged  inaction  under  exposure  to  cold  and 
wet.  In  battle,  the  wounded  soldier,  when  he  heard  his  com- 
rades say  their  cartridges  were  out,  anxious  for  his  country's 
success,  but  heedless  of  the  life-blood  that  was  welling  from 
his  wounds,  would  exert  the  last  remnant  of  his  strength  to 
grasp  his  cartridge-box,  and  say  "  Take  mine." 

The  war  of  1812  was  brief,  and  at  this  day  engages  com- 
paratively but  little  attention.  But  it  has  been  justly  called 
our  second  war  of  independence ;  for  it  was  a  natural  sequel 
and  the  complement  of  our  Revolution.  The  cause  was  not 
so  momentous,  nor  the  events  so  striking,  nor  the  contest  so 
long  ,*  but  still  it  was  a  gallant  and  successful  contest  in  the 
old  cause  of  life,  liberty,  and  property ;  it  extorted  the  respect 
of  our  enemies,  raised  us  higher  in  the  scale  of  nations,  and 
added  stability,  strength,  and  attractions  to  the  structure  built 
up  by  our  Revolution. 

That  Revolution  left  its  impress  on  the  age ;  and  its  abiding 
influence  upon  the  nations  of  the  world  shows  itself  in  the 
constant  growth  and  diffusion  of  the  blessings  of  political  and 
civil  liberty.  Russia  is  at  this  day  emancipating  her  serfs, 
unchanged  in  her  conformity  to  the  example  first  set  her  by 
Joseph  of  Austria  shortly  before  the  close  of  our  revolu- 
tionary warfare  for  freedom.  It  is  true  that  Austria  has  since 
retrograded  in  her  policy ;  but  Sardinia,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
holding  up  the  example  of  her  free  institutions,  and  teaching 


76 


the  despotisms  that  surround  her^  that  the  march  of  freedom 
is  onward,  and  that  the  time  is  at  hand  when  they  must  re- 
spect and  cherish  the  sacred  principles  of  right  and  freedom, 
which  were  brought  to  life,  and  nobly  and  fearlessly  adopted 
and  vindicated;  by  our  forefathers,  on  this  spot,  where  we  now 
stand. 

At  this  late  hour,  sir,  I  will  not  further  trespass  upon  your 
indulgence,  but  will  merely  offer  a  sentiment  founded  upon 
one  which  I  gave  in  Boston  nearly  fifty  years  ago : 

Boston,  the  cradle  of  our  infant  liberty — May  she  ever  be  the  strong- 
hold of  the  full-grown  giant. 

The  thirteenth  regular  toast  was : 

Our  system  of  Free  Schools  —  The  nursery  of  intelligence  and 
morality,  the  fountain  of  social  prosperity,  and  the  safeguard  of  republican 
liberty ;  may  it  never  cease  to  be  the  pride  and  glory  of  Boston,  where 
education  was  first  provided  by  the  means  of  all,  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

J.  D.  Philbrick^  Esq.,  Superintendent  of  the  Public 
Schools,  by  request  of  the  Mayor,  responded  to  this 
toast  as  follows :  — 

I  am  well  aware,  Mr.  Mayor,  that  you  have  taken  the  lib- 
erty to  call  upon  me  to  respond  to  this  toast,  not  because  of 
your  conviction  of  peculiar  fitness  on  my  part  to  do  justice  to 
the  theme,  but  because  I  happen  to  be  connected,  in  an  hum- 
ble capacity,  with  the  administration  of  our  system  of  public 
instruction.  But  in  rising  in  obedience  to  your  command  to 
utter  a  few  words  as  best  I  may,  I  am  cheered  with  the  con- 
soling reflection  that  in  this  presence,  least  of  all  places  on 
the  globe,  does  the  public  school  need  an  advocate.  Here  is 
its  birthplace,  here  its  cradle  was  rocked,  long  before  this 
renowned  cradle  of  liberty  was  thought  of. 


77 


The  schoolmaster  is  no  new  character  in  Boston.  For  two 
and  a  quarter  centuries  he  has  been  abroad  in  this  city. 
Without  the  Tree  school  Boston  would  not  have  been  Boston. 
The  free  school  is  the  corner-stone  of  Boston  prosperity. 
Without  it  you  might  indeed  have  your  commerce  and  your 
warehouses,  but  your  Boston  character,  that  of  which  Bosto- 
nians  are  most  proud,  you  could  not  have. 

I  cannot  but  think  there  is  a  propriety  in  remembering  the 
free  school  on  this  anniversary  of  the  birthday  of  American 
liberty  and  independence.  Who  doubts  that  the  perpetuity 
of  our  free  institutions  of  government  depends  upon  the 
character  of  the  present  and  future  generations  of  the  peo- 
ple ?  Without  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  virtue 
among  the  people,  liberty  is  an  impossibility. 

On  this  day,  therefore,  of  our  national  jubilee,  the  intelli- 
gent patriot,  while  commemorating  the  services  of  those  who 
fought  and  died  for  the  liberty  which  we  enjoy,  would  not  for- 
get the  means  by  which  that  liberty  is  to  be  perpetuated.  It 
is  eminently  fitting  that  as  often  as  we  refresh  our  memories 
with  the  rehearsal  of  the  ever  memorable  Declaration,  we 
should  also  recall  the  solemn  injunction  of  the  Father  of  his 
Country  in  his  Farewell  Address  to  his  countrymen  respect- 
ing the  duty  of  maintaining  public  instruction.  "  Promote," 
said  he,  "  as  an  object  of  primary  importance,  institutions  for 
the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  In  proportion  as  the 
structure  of  government  gives  force  to  public  opinion,  it  is 
essential  that  public  opinion  should  be  enlightened." 

We  shall,  Mr.  Mayor,  most  effectively  obey  this  injunction 
by  extending  and  perfecting  the  free  public  school.  This 
enterprise  I  look  upon  as  the  most  important  work  of  this 
generation.  Its  grand  aim  is  universal  intelligence  and  vir- 
tue, without  which  our  prosperity  will  only  prove  our  ruin, 
and  hasten  us  with  more  headlong  speed  to  our  destruction. 
The  knowledge  of  duty  and  the  will  to  do  it  is  the  only  salva- 
tion of  the  State.     To  insure  this  mental  and  moral  illumina- 


78 


tion  of  the  masses  of  the  people  so  essential  for  prosperity, 
the  free  public  school  must  be  supported  and  cherished  with 
liberality,  directed  and  controlled  by  the  wisest  and  most 
pure-minded  citizens,  and  never  suffered  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  designing  demagogues  or  sectarian  bigots. 

If  there  is  any  one  institution  among  us  upon  which  we 
may  rely  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  and  manners  of  republican 
liberty,  that  institution  is  the  free  public  school.  Before 
the  schoolmaster  all  are  equal.  No  distinction  of  race,  color, 
religion,  or  nationality  is  recognized.  Personal  merit  is  the 
only  and  sole  ground  of  distinction.  It  is  the  glory  of  our 
system,  that  while  it  is  made  good  enough  for  the  best,  it  is 
free  to  all  ,*  and  the  son  of  the  laborer  and  the  son  of  the 
wealthy  merchant  may  be  seen  side  by  side  in  the  same  class 
for  years  contending  for  the  same  honors,  and  sharing  the 
same  instruction.  It  is  the  mighty  leveller,  but  it  levels  in  the 
right  way ;  it  levels  upwards,  not  in  pride  and  vanity,  but  in 
usefulness  and  ability. 

To  some  shallow  minds  who  never  enjoyed  the  advantages 
of  the  training  of  an  able  master  in  a  free  school,  and  never 
achieved  anything  more  useful  or  heroic  than  the  perusal  of  a 
novel,  the  mention  of  the  schoolmaster  suggests  nothing  but 
the  ludicrous  figure  of  a  Dominie  Sampson,  an  Ichabod  Crane, 
or  a  Mr.  Squeers.  But  the  intelligent  citizen  of  Boston  needs 
not  to  be  told  that  the  schoolmasters  who  have  the  care  of 
his  children  are  gentlemen  of  respectability,  character,  and 
learning,  and  that  the  schoolmistress  is  a  lady  of  manners,  re- 
finement, and  intelligence. 

In  conclusion  allow  me  to  propose  the  sentiment : 

The  Teachers  of  the  Public  Schools  of  Boston  —  The  makers  of  the 
future  history  of  Boston. 

At  this  time,  the  hour  being  somewhat  late,  and  a 
desire  to  see  the  balloon  ascensions  prevailing,  upon 
motion  of  Alderman  J.  M.  Wightman  the  company 
adjourned. 


CORRESPONDENCE 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


In  addition  to  the  letters  already  given,  the  following 
were  received  by  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  from 


various  invited  guests : 


Buffalo,  June  26,  1858. 

To  His  Honor  Mayor  Lincoln. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  just  received  your  letter  enclosing  an  official  in- 
vitation from  the  City  Council  of  Boston,  inviting  me  to  join  with  them 
in  celebrating  the  approaching  anniversary  of  American  Independence, 
and  regret  exceedingly  that  it  is  out  of  my  power  to  accept  it. 

Your  letter  seems  to  have  been  addressed  to  me  under  the  impression 
that  I  was  in  Providence,  which  was  a  mistake,  as  I  have  not  been  in 
New  England  for  more  than  three  years.  Were  I  in  Providence,  I 
should  certainly  accept  your  invitation,  that  I  might  enjoy  the  satisfaction, 
once  before  I  die,  of  seeing  that  glorious  day  celebrated  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
its  birthplace ;  but  I  must  defer  this  pleasure  to  a  more  convenient 
season. 

I  beg  you  to  present  my  thanks  to  the  Council  for  the  honor  it  has 
done  me  by  this  invitation,  and  permit  me  to  subscribe  myself 

Your  obedient  servant, 

MILLARD   FILLMORE. 


Washington  City,  June  24,  1858. 
Gentlemen  :     While  I  tender  to  you  my  acknowledgments  for   the 
honor  you  have  done  me  by  inviting  me  to  attend  the  proposed  celebra- 
tion, by  the  City  Council  of   Boston,   of  the  approaching  anniversary 

of  American  Independence,  I  am  compelled  to  ask  your  indulgence  for 

11 


82 


declining  to  accept  it.     My  public  duties  here  will  prevent  me  from 
leaving  Washington  at  the  present  time. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

LEW.   CASS. 
Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  and  others,  Com.  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

Washington,  June  15,  1858. 
Dear  Sir  :     I  pray  you  to  present  to  the  Committee  of  Arrangements 
my  grateful    acknowledgments   for   their   kind   invitation,   and  also   to 
accept  my  thanks   for   the   courteous   manner   in  which   you   have  re- 
corded it. 

If  it  were  at  all  proper,  I  should  accept  the  invitation  ;  but  I  have  a 
peremptory  engagement  in  another  quarter. 

Believe  me,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect, 
Your  humble  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 
The  Honorable  Frederic  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor,  &c.,  &c. 

Washington,  June  16,  1858. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of  the  7th 
inst.,  enclosing  to  me  an  invitation  from  the  Committee  of  Arrangements, 
to  attend  the  celebration,  by  the  City  Council  of  Boston,  of  the  approach- 
ing anniversary  of  American  Independence. 

Such  an  invitation  is  an  honor  to  be  proudly  remembered.  To  par- 
ticipate in  a  Boston  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  in  sight  of  Bunker 
Hill,  and  to  dine  in  Faneuil  Hall,  is  like  being  in  the  visible  presence  of 
the  Revolution,  and  feasting  on  its  glorious  memories  and  the  fruits  of  its 
victories. 

It  would  be  most  gratifying  to  me  to  be  present  at  the  celebration,  and 
it  is  with  much  regret  that  I  find  it  out  of  my  power.  Circumstances 
oblige  me  to  return  home  as  soon  as  my  public  duties  here  will  permit, 
and  I  must,  therefore,  decline  the  invitation  with  which  I  have  been 
honored,  and  which  you  have  so  kindly  urged  me  to  accept. 

I  request  that  you  will  communicate  this  to  the  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments, and  to  you  and  to  them,  sir,  I  offer  my  sincere  acknowledgments. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be. 

Very  respectfully,  yours,  &c., 

J.  J.    CRITTENDEN. 
Frederic  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Boston. 


83 


Nahant,  Sd  July,  1858. 

My  dear  Mr.  Mayor  :  By  some  accident,  which  is  entirely  unim- 
portant except  as  an  apology  for  the  lateness  of  my  own  reply,  your 
obliging  card  for  the  municipal  celebration  of  our  national  birthday  only 
reached  me  a  day  or  two  since.  I  thank  you  for  the  privilege  it  offers 
me  of  dining  in  Faneuil  Hall  on  the  5th  inst.  Were  I  to  be  in  town 
on  that  day,  I  should  certainly  not  omit  the  opportunity  of  spending  at 
least  a  part  of  the  afternoon  in  that  hall  of  ancient  renown  and  glorious 
association. 

May  I  be  pardoned,  however,  for  availing  myself  of  this  note  of 
acknowledgment  and  apology,  (and  in  place  of  the  speech  which  you  so 
kindly  requested  me  to  make,)  to  suggest  a  hope  that  when,  in  the 
course  of  coming  years,  the  anniversary  of  the  great  Declaration  shall 
happen  again  on  a  Sunday,  the  idea  may  be  entertained  of  holding  the 
celebration  on  the  day  before,  rather  than  on  the  day  after  it  ? 

I  will  not  dwell  on  the  obvious  expediency  of  bringing  such  celebra- 
tions into  the  end  of  a  week,  instead  of  into  the  beginning,  and  of  thus 
removing  the  temptation  of  turning  the  Sunday  into  a  mere  day  of 
preparation.  There  are  other  circumstances  of  an  historical  character 
which  can  hardly  fail  to  commend  such  a  change  to  the  favorable  con- 
sideration of  the  community. 

The  memorable  and  momentous  Debate  of  Independence  at  Philadel- 
phia ran  through  the  1st,  2d,  3d  and  4th  days  of  July.  The  resolution 
which  embraced  the  whole  decision  of  the  question  was  adopted  on  the 
2d,  and  it  was  accordingly  of  the  2d  day  of  July,  1776,  that  John  Adams 
wrote  so  emphatically  to  his  wife,  that  "  it  ought  to  be  commemorated 
as  a  day  of  deliverance  by  solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  God  Almighty ; 
that  it  ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp  and  parade,  with  shows,  games, 
sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and  illuminations,  from  one  end  of  this  conti- 
nent to  the  other,  from  this  time  forward  forevermore." 

The  formal  declaration  of  what  had  thus  been  resolved  was  debated  on 
the  3d,  and  finally  adopted  on  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  July.  Our 
great  Revolution  was  thus,  in  some  sort,  and  so  far  as  the  Continental 
Congress  was  concerned,  "  a  i^oi^r  Day s^  devolution  ;'^  and  either  of 
the  four  days  might  fairly  be  taken  for  an  anniversary  celebration  of  the 
event.  It  would  seem  as  if  one  of  these  four  ought  certainly  to  be  taken 
for  this  purpose  ;  and  when  the  Sabbath  comes  in  to  arrest  all  festivities 
on  the  last  of  the  four,  there  would  be  a  peculiar  historical  propriety  in 
falling  back  upon  one  of  the  other  three. 


84 


By  substituting  the  2d  in  such  cases,  we  should  give  literal  fulfilment 
to  the  prophetic  anticipations  of  John  Adams,  and  no  one  would  be  sorry 
to  see  this  occasionally  done.  But  there  is  another  association  with  the 
3d  of  July,  which  would  add  still  more  to  the  interest  of  such  a  celebra- 
tion. You  are  aware  that  Washington,  having  arrived  at  Cambridge  on 
the  2d,  assumed  the  command  of  the  American  army  for  the  first  time 
on  the  3d  of  July,  1775.  Would  it  not  be  a  most  agreeable  and  worthy 
coincidence  if,  when  the  intervention  of  a  Sunday  shall  cut  off  the  cus- 
tomary routine  of  these  celebrations,  we  could  combine  the  commemora- 
tion of  those  two  great  events  —  Washington  taking  command  of  the 
army  in  1775,  and  Congress  declaring  our  independence  in  1776  ? 

Pardon  me,  my  dear  Mr.  Mayor,  for  making  a  note  of  ceremony  the 
vehicle  of  so  practical  and  prosaic  a  suggestion.  Whatever  day  may  be 
taken,  now  or  hereafter,  I  doubt  not  that  as  long  as  Faneuil  Hall  shall 
stand,  it  will  be  celebrated  in  a  spirit  of  national  brotherhood  and  com- 
prehensive patriotism.  The  day  is  nothing;  the  spirit  is  everything. 
Let  me  hasten  to  a  conclusion  by  thanking  you  and  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements  once  more  for  your  kind  invitation,  and  by  offering  as  a 
sentiment  for  the  occasion  — 

Our  Country  and  its  glorious  Past  —  Let  us  resolve  that  it  shall  be 
no  fault  of  ours  if  it  shall  not  enjoy  a  like  glorious  future. 

Believe  me,  dear  Mr.  Mayor,  very  sincerely, 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

ROBERT   C.  WINTIIROP. 
His  Honor  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor. 


I.  S.  B.  TiiACiiER,  of  Mississippi,  has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
polite  invitation  of  the  City  Council  of  Boston  to  dine  on  the  4th  instant. 

He  regrets  that  the  recent  death  of  one  of  his  family  deprives  him  of 
the  pleasure  of  sending  an  acceptance. 

He  desires  to  assure  the  Council  of  his  joy  and  pride  in  the  rapid  and 
substantial  progress  of  his  native  city  ;  and  he  begs  leave  to  add,  since 
we  are  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  that  "  a  city  set  upon  a  hill  cannot 
be  hid,''^  that  Boston,  upon  her  three  hills,  having  thus  a  three-fold 
responsibility,  yet  challenges  the  admiration  of  the  world. 

Chestnut  Street,  July  2,  1858. 
To  His  Honor  Frederic  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor,  «fcc.,  &;c. 


85 


Manchester,  N.  H.,  June  l^th,  I808. 
Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln,  J E.,  Mayor  of  Boston. 

My  dear  Sir  :  I  have  received  yours  of  the  21st  inst.,  extending  to 
me  an  invitation  from  the  City  Council  df  Boston  "  to  participate  with 
them  in  the  celebration  of  the  approaching  anniversary  of  American 
Indejjendence."  I  am  much  obliged  to  the  City  Council,  and  to  you, 
sir,  personally,  for  the  honor  thus  done  me. 

It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  join  in  your  celebration,  and  at 
the  "  Cradle  of  Liberty,"  surrounded  by  Concord  and  Lexington  and 
Bunker  Hill,  to  draw  in  new  inspirations  of  freedom  ;  to  enkindle  a 
warmer  and  more  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the  maintenance  of  good 
government ;  and  to  cherish  an  attachment  to  the  Union  till  it  should 
become  as  strong  and  constant  as  the  love  of  life. 

But  this  pleasure  I  must  forego.  For  weeks  before  I  left  Washington, 
on  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  my  health  was  very  much  impaired,  and 
is  not  now  fully  restored.  I  need  quiet,  rest,  and  recreation,  and  I 
avoid  everything   like  business  or  excitement. 

If  I  were  to  accept  your  invitation,  it  would  be  at  some  risk  of  retard- 
ing my  complete  and  early  restoration  to  health.  I  must,  therefore,  as 
a  matter  of  necessity  and  duty,   "  beg  to  be  excused." 

Be  pleased  to  convey  to  your  associates  the  assurance  of  my  best  regards, 
and  allow  me  to  add  that  our  safety  as  a  nation  for  the  future  lies  in  our 
attachment  to  the  past.  No  better  maxims  or  principles  of  government 
will  ever  be  adopted  than  those  laid  at  the  foundation  of  our  govern- 
ment. An  attachment  to  the  Union  as  strong  and  ardent  as  the  necessity 
and  desire  which  formed  it,  can  alone  perpetuate  it.  How  appropriate 
and  proper,  therefore,* on  the  anniversary  of  the  declaration  of  our  inde- 
pendence, to  awaken  the  hallowed  memories  of  its  inauguration  —  in 
imagination  to  recreate  the  scene  —  to  call  up  the  time,  the  place,  the 
men,  the  cause  —  to  bring  them,  as  it  were,  down  the  course  of  time, 
eighty  odd  years,  and  mingle  ourselves  with  them  and  thus  transmit  them 
to  the  remotest  coming  years. 

In  conclusion  permit  me  to  express  the  following  sentiment : 

The  Old  Cradle  of  Liberty  —  May  patriots  watch  it,  future  states- 
men occupy  it,  and  the  guilt  of  the  "  glittering  generalities "  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  cover  it. 

With  much  respect, 

I  remain  truly  yours, 

DANIEL  CLABK. 


86 


Boston  Navy  Yard,  June  80,  1858. 
Gentlemen  :     I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  your  polite  invita- 
tion to  participate  in    the  city  celebration   of  the    eighty-second  anni- 
versary of  American  Indepcnd^ce,  and  regret  that  my  other  engagements 
will  not  allow  me  to  avail  myself  of  it. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

GEO.  HENRY  PREBLE, 

Lieut.    U,  S.  N. 
To  Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor  of  Boston, 

and  his  associates  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 

75  State  Street,  Boston,  June  21,  1858. 

Lieut.  Hunt  presents  his  acknowledgments  to  the  City  Council  of 
Boston  for  its  polite  invitation  to  be  present  in  the  procession  and  at  the 
dinner  proposed  for  July  5th ;  but  as  he  purposes  being  out  of  town  on 
that  day  it  will  be  out  of  his  power  to  be  present. 

To  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 


U.  S.  Rev.  Steamer  "  H.  Lane," 
New  York,  June  28,  1858 


} 


Hon.  Fred.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor,  and  Alderman  Peirce  and  others 
of  the  Boston  City  Council. 

Gentlemen  :  Please  to  receive  my  thanks  for  the  invitation  to  par- 
ticipate in  your  proposed  patriotic  celebration  of  our  national  anniversary 
on  the  5th  of  July  next,  and  sincere  regret  that  my  professional  duties 
will  prevent  its  acceptance,  and  deprive  me  of  the  pleasure  I  should 
enjoy  in  your  society. 

With  great  respect. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  WALL  WILSON, 

Lieut.  U.  S.  R.  M. 

Crescent  Place,  June  30,  1858. 
Dear  Sir  :     By  your  authority,  and  I  doubt  not  from  kind  remem- 
brance of  former  acq[uaintance,  I  have  received  an  invitation  to  attend 
the  celebration  of  our  national  independence  on  the  approaching  5th  of 
July. 


87 


Accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  this  invitation,  one  with  which  I  have 
not  been  honored  for  rather  more,  I  think,  than  thirty  years. 

But  while  my  best  wishes  attend  you,  and  my  prayers  are  offered  for 
our  country,  I  am  constrained,  on  account  of  my  deafness,  to  decline. 

Respectfully  yours, 

WM.  JENKS. 
His  Honor  the  Mayor. 

Boston,  July  2,  1858. 
Sir  :  Please  accept  for  yourself  and  your  associates  upon  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  approaching  celebration  of  the 
national  anniversary,  my  most  grateful  acknowledgments  for  your 
courteous  invitation  to  participate  in  the  festivities.  I  am  reluctantly 
constrained  to  decline,  from  a  previous  literary  engagement  which  will 
not  release  me. 

With  great  respect, 

A.  L.  STONE. 
Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor  of  Boston. 

Rockingham  House,  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  > 

July  2,  1858.  ) 

Gentlemen  :  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  kind  invitation  to 
attend  the  celebration  of  the  eighty-second  anniversary  of  American 
Independence  in  the  City  of  Boston,  for  which  you  will  please  accept 
my  sincere  thanks. 

I  deeply  regret  that  it  will  not  be  possible  for  me  to  accept  your 
invitation,  in  consequence  of  a  slight  illness. 

With  very  great  respect, 

M.  SAID  SULIMAN. 
To  Hon.  E.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor,  and  gentlemen  of 
the  City  Government  of  the  City  of  Boston. 

Saturday,  July  3;  185-8.' 
Dear  Sir  :     I  regret  that  my  absence  from  the  city  obliges  me  to , 
decline  the  invitation  of  the  City  Council  of  Boston  to^bq. present  at  the . 
civic  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July. 

Yours  truly >, 

G.  S.  HILLABD. 
Mr.  Mayor  Lincoln. 


88 


Boston,  July  2,  1858. 
Gentlemen  :     I  have  the  honor  of  jour  invitation  to  attend  the  public 
services  and  dinner,  arranged  by  the  City  Council,  upon  the  approaching 
anniversary  of  American  Independence. 

The  acceptance  of  another  invitation,  previously  extended,  must  pre- 
clude me  from  that  pleasure  ;  but  I  beg  leave  to  offer  a  sentiment  for  the 
occasion . 

Respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

GEOEGE  LTJNT. 
Hon  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor, 

and  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 

American  Indepeiidence  —  While  the  liberty  of  a  people  is  uncertain, 
it  deserves  defence  ;  ever  after  it  is  established,  it  requires  regulation. 

Boston,  July  2,  1858. 
My  dear  Sir  :      Gladly  enough  would  I  join  the  City  Council  in  the 
celebration  of  the  approaching  anniversary  of  American  Independence, 
but  for  the  previous  acceptance  of  an  invitation  of  the  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati. 

Be  pleased  to  receive  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  honor  of  being  remem- 
bered by  your  Committee  on  a  day  so  memorable  in  the  annaL«  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race. 

Very  truly. 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

LORENZO  SABINE. 
Hon.  Frederic  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  &c.,  &c. 


RoxBURY,  Mass.,  June  23,  1858. 
Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor,  and  other  gentlemen,  members  of  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements,  &c. 

Gentlemen  :  I  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  honor  of  an  invitation  to 
be  present  in  the  procession  and  at  the  dinner,  on  the  5th  July,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  celebration  by  the  City  Council  of  Boston  of  the  eighty- 
second  anniversary  of  American  Independence. 

I  regret  that  previous  engagements  for  that  day  deprive  me  of  the 
pleasure  of  uniting  with  you  in  the  festivities  of  that  joyous  and  interest- 


89 


ing  occasion.     Will  you  allow  me  to  offer  for  your  consideration  the 
following  expression  of  my  feelings  : 

The  City  of  Boston — May  she  continue  to  be,  as  she  ever  has  been, 
ready  and  zealous  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of  our  nation — may  her  sons 
be  ever  found  contending  for  human  freedom,  and  ever  ready  as  their 
fathers,  to  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  their  country's  welfare  everything 
but  principle,  to  maintain  inviolable  and  inviolate  the  Constitution  and 
the  Union  of  these  States. 

With  great  respect, 

Your  friend  and  fellow  citizen, 

SAMUEL  H.  WALLEY. 


Hon.  Frederic  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  Mayor,  and  other  gentlemen  of  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements  of  the  City  Council  of  Boston. 

Please  accept  my  acknowledgments  for  your  polite  invitation  to  be 
present  at  the  City  Council's  celebration  of  the  approaching  anniversary 
of  American  Independence. 

As  I  shall  be  out  of  the  city  on  that  day,  it  will  be  out  of  my  power 
to  avail  myself  of  the  proffered  honor. 
With  great  respect, 

I  am  your  humble  servant, 

CHARLES  WELLS. 
Boston,  July  \st,  1858. 

Boston,  July  2,  1858. 

Gentlemen  :  It  affords  me  unfeigned  satisfaction  to  learn  that  you,  in 
your  official  capacity  as  the  Government  of  the  City  of  Boston,  are  deter- 
mined to  perpetuate  the  good  old  custom  which  has  come  down  to  us  from 
our  venerable  fathers,  of  celebrating  the  birthday  of  our  national  inde- 
pendence by  the  services,  festivities,  and  illuminations  common  on  that 
occasion.  May  this  national  jubilee,  so  fraught  with  hallowed  memories, 
never  cease  to  be  appropriately  commemorated  by  the  good  citizens  of 
Boston  ;  for  when  it  shall  not  thus  be  remembered  and  distinguished,  we 
shall,  I  fear,  have  no  independence  to  celebrate. 

It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  accept  your  invitation  to  unite  in 
the  celebration  of  this  year,  but  dangerous  sickness  in  my  family  and  the 

12 


90 


recent  death  of  my  senior  partner  in  business  forbid  my  participation  in 
the  privileges  and  pleasures  of  the  occasion. 

With  sentiments  of  great  personal  regard, 
I  am^  gentlemen, 

Yours  most  sincerely, 

MARSHALL  P.  WILDER. 

To  His  Honor  Mayor  Lincoln,  and  associates, 
Committee  of  Arrangements,  &c. 


City  of  Lawrence,  Mayor's  Office,  > 
Lawrence,  Mass.,  June  24,  1858.  ) 
To  His  Honor  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  and  others.  Committee  of  the  City 
Government  of  Boston. 

Gentlemen  :  Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  your  polite  invitation  to  be 
present  at  the  dinner  of  the  City  Government  of  Boston  on  the  occasion 
of  the  approaching  anniversary,  and  also  to  present  my  acknowledgment 
of  the  compliment  which  you  thereby  pay  to  the  city  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  represent,  a  city  founded  by  Boston  enterprise,  and  bearing  the 
name  of  one  of  Boston's  noblest  and  most  lamented  sons. 

Other  engagements  compel  me  to  decline  your  courtesy,  but  thousands 
of  hearts  here  will  beat  in  unison  with  your  own,  throbbing  with  patriotic 
emotions,  as  we  reflect  upon  the  act  which  that  day  commemorates,  and 
the  blessings  which  that  act  secured.  And  I  trust,  gentlemen,  that  we 
shall  all  duly  consider  on  that  occasion,  and  at  all  times,  not  only  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  declaration  of  independence,  and  the  men  and 
the  deeds  that  secured  our  civil  and  religious  freedom,  but,  what  is  of  far 
greater  importance,  the  motives  by  which  those  men  were  actuated  in 
their  daily  life. 

There  is  at  times  ground  for  apprehension  that  our  people,  in  the 
discharge  of  their  civil  duties,  may  be  governed  too  much  by  personal, 
selfish  considerations  —  influenced  too  strongly  by  the  love  of  gain,  or 
desire  for  place  and  power  —  and  too  little  by  pure  devotion  to  their 
country  and  her  highest  welfare. 

That  this  may  never  be  the  fact,  but  that  all  citizens  may  look  well  to 
the  motives  which  govern  their  political  action  —  that  through  a  long  and 
glorious  future  the  spirit  of  the  Withers  and  founders  of  the  republic  may 
live  in  the  hearts  of  all  their  descendants  —  this  should  be  the  earnest 


91 


desire  of  every  true  patriot.  And  what  more  fitting  time  for  reflections 
of  this  nature  can  be  offered  than  the  anniversary  of  the  nation's 
birth? 

I  offer  to  you,  gentlemen,  the  following  sentiment  : 

The  City  of  Boston  —  First  in  resistance  to  the  aggressions  of 
tyranny,  she  will  be  the  last  to  surrender  her  inheritance  of  freedom. 
Let  her  motto  ever  be  our  country's  prayer,  "  Sicut  patribus  sit  Deds 

NOBIS." 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  R.  ROLLINS. 


City  of  Lowell,  Mayor's 
Office,  July  2,  1858 


►r's> 


Hon.  F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  most  kind  invitation  to  unite  in  the  approaching 
municipal  celebration  of  American  Independence  was  duly  received.  I 
have  delayed  replying  to  this  late  day,  from  an  expectation  that  I  might 
be  able  to  accept  it,  which  of  all  things  would  be  most  agreeable  to  me. 
I  find,  however,  my  presence  will  be  expected  here,  and  I  am  obliged 
to  decline  it  very  reluctantly. 

Truly  your  obedient  servant, 

E.  HUNTINGTON. 


EVENTS  OF   THE   CELEBRATION, 


EVENTS  OF  THE    CELEBRATION. 


Early  in  the  month  of  April  last  a  Joint  Special  Com- 
mittee of  the  City  Council,  composed  of  Aldermen  Peirce, 
James,  Brewster,  Crane  and  Holbrook,  with  Comicilmen 
James  J.  Cobb,  Benjamin  F.  Palmer,  T.  R.  Page,  J.  A.  War- 
ren, J.  L.  Henshaw,  N.  A.  Thompson  and  P.  E.  Faxon,  who 
had  been  appointed  "  to  make  suitable  arrangements  to  cele- 
brate the  approaching  anniversary  of  American  Independ- 
ence," having  requested  and  received  assurance  of  the  cordial 
cooperation  of  His  Honor  the  Mayor  with  them,  entered 
upon  the  active  discharge  of  their  duties.  After  selecting 
the  orator,  chaplain,  and  reader  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, the  remaining  elements  of  the  celebration  were 
soon  designated,  and  their  completion  allotted  to  different 
sub-committees.  It  had  been  deemed  inexpedient  by  the 
Committee  to  attempt  any  elaborate  decoration  of  the  city 
upon  this  occasion;  and  consequently  but  few  places  of  local 
or  historical  interest  in  addition  to  Faneuil  Hall  were  dis- 
tinguished by  any  unusual  embellishment.  The  following  are 
perhaps  worthy  of  observation. 

From  the  front  windows  of  the  City  Hall  stretched  staffs 
supporting  the  various  national  flags,  while  from  the  cupola 
and  either  wing  of  the  building  streamed  the  stars  and 
stripes.  At  the  centre  of  the  roof  was  arranged  a  cluster  of 
flags,  and  numerous  small  flags  and  streamers  adorned  the 
balcony. 


96 


A  double  Roman  arch,  finely  painted  in  fresco  and  gold, 
bearing  upon  its  columns  a  display  of  armor,  decorated  tlie 
Park  street  entrance  to  the  Common.  At  the  centre  of  this 
arch  rose  the  figure  of  Washington,  while  its  front  bore,  as  a 
motto,  the  memorable  sentence  uttered  by  the  first  Mayor  of 
the  City  (Hon.  John  Phillips),  "  The  object  of  our  festivals 
is  the  perpetuity  of  our  country's  honor,"  and  the  reverse, 
'^  July  4,  1776."^ 

From  Faneuil  Hall  to  Quincy  Market  stretched  a  banner 
bearing  upon  one  side  the  motto,  "  The  time  that  tried  men's 
souls,"  and  upon  the  other,  the  date,  "  July  4,  1776." 

From  Concert  Hall  to  the  opposite  side  of  Court  street 
reached  the  mottoes,  "  Forget  not  those  who  by  their  suff'er- 
ings  secured  to  you  the  blessings  of  this  day,"  and  "  The 
eighty-second  anniversary  of  American  Independence." 

From  the  site  of  the  Old  Green  Dragon  tavern  extended 
the  motto,  ^^Our  fathers  met  at  the  old  Green  Dragon  to  dis- 
cuss the  affairs  of  the  nation,  and  there  originated  the  Boston 
Tea  Party,  Dec.  16,  1773." 

From  the  armory  of  the  City  Guard,  across  Winter  street, 
the  following  was  suspended :  "  American  liberty  was  won  by 
the  valor  of  citizen  soldiery.  While  the  virtue  of  the  people 
cherishes  it,  the  patriotism  of  volunteer  troops  will  sustain 
and  regard  it."  On  the  reverse,  ^'Boston  City  Guard,  insti- 
tuted Sept.  20th,  1821.     Semper  par atus.''^ 

The  morning  of  the  5th  of  July  dawned  as  mildly  clear 
and  cloudlessly  beautiful  as  could  have  been  desired,  and  was 
welcomed  by  multitudes  of  citizens  and  strangers  who  from 
the  earliest  appearance  of  light  had  thronged  the  various 
thoroughfares,  rendering  them  nearly  impassable. 

The  first  rays  of  the  sun  were  greeted  by  the  loud  pealing 
of  the  bells  from  the  different  churches,  and  national  salutes 
fired  from  the  Common,  Central  Square,  (East  Boston,)  and 
Telegraph  Hill,  (South  Boston.) 

At  about  half  past  six  o'clock  tlie  police  force  which  had 


97 


been  detailed  to  preserve  good  order  throughout  the  city 
during  the  day,  assembled  in  the  area  fronting  the  City  Hall, 
whence,  after  having  been  inspected  by  His  Honor  the  Mayor, 
they  dispersed  to  the  various  stations  which  had  been 
assigned  to  them. 

GRAND    CONCERT. 

At  eight  o'clock  the  Common  was  crowded  with  persons 
assembled  to  hear  the  grand  concert,  which  had  been  arranged 
to  take  place  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  B.  A.  Burditt,  of  the 
Brigade  Band.  An  orchestra,  composed  of  the  Boston  Brass, 
Brigade,  Metropolitan,  and  Germania  Military  bands,  com- 
prising in  all  more  than  eighty  men,  together  with  a  detach- 
ment of  the  Light  Artillery,  who  were  present  with  field 
pieces  to  assist  the  bands,  performed  the  following  pro- 
gramme of  music,  after  the  preliminary  execution  of  three 
grand  chords,  each  chord  being  accompanied  by  a  discharge 
from  one  of  the  field  pieces. 

1.  Yankee  Doodle,  with  solo  variations  by  tjie  leaders  of 

the  different  bands. 

2.  Wood  Up. 

3.  Washington's  March. 

4.  Yerdi's  Anvil  Chorus,  with  eight  anvils. 

5.  Star  Spangled  Banner. 

6.  God  save  the  Queen. 

7.  Marseilles  Hymn. 

9.  The  Turkish  Song  of  Peace. 
10.  Hail    Columbia,    accompanied    by    the    guns    of    the 
Artillery. 

The  salvos  of  artillery  were  in  perfect  unison  with  the 
music,  and  the  whole  concert,  which  terminated  at  about  nine 
o'clock,  was  eminently  successful,  as  was  testified  by  the 
repeated  loud  and  enthusiastic  cheerinor  of  the  surrounding 

O  O 

masses. 

13 


98 


childeen's  celebration. 

The  pleasing  recollections  of  the  juvenile  festival  of  the  pre- 
ceding year  prompted  the  Committee  to  undertake  a  repetition 
upon  a  somewhat  larger  scale,  the  present  year ;  they  there- 
fore solicited  the  Eev.  Mr.  Barnard  and  the  associate  teach- 
ers of  the  Warren  Street  Chapel  to  afford  the  benefit  of  their 
valuable  and  effective  services,  and  the  call  met  with  a  cordial 
and  ready  response. 

A  mammoth  tent,  capable  of  containing  at  least  four  thou- 
sand people,  was  erected  at  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Public 
Garden,  and  within  this  was  laid  a  floor  sufficiently  large  for 
one  thousand  children  to  dance  upon.  In  the  centre  of  the 
tent  were  stationed  the  Germania  Orchestral  Band,  which 
furnished  music  for  those  who  chose  to  dance,  and  the  Ger- 
mania Military  Band,  which  afforded  music  of  a  more  suitable 
character  for  promenading. 

From  the  early  hour  of  about  seven  and  one-half  o'clock, 
at  which  hour  the  Garden  was  thrown  open,  until  evening,  the 
tent  was  thronged,  and  every  species  of  dance  performed. 
Conspicuous  among  the  dances  was  the  "  French  Peasants' 
Dance,"  executed  by  twelve  young  girls  dressed  in  red,  with 
blue  trimmings,  white  aprons,  high-heeled  shoes,  and  straw 
hats.  Another  tent  at  no  great  distance  was  devoted  entirely 
to  flowers,  which  in  bouquets,  wreaths,  and  every  variety  of 
beautiful  forms,  were  dealt  out  to  the  children  in  boundless 
profusion,  an  unusually  large  supply  having  been  kindly  con- 
tributed from  the  city  proper  and  the  adjacent  towns.  Amuse- 
ments of  every  description  were  provided,  including  swings, 
whirlrounds,  flies,  kites,  grace-hoops,  balls,  &c.,  which  afforded 
the  children  endless  satisfaction.  Various  small  tents  were 
dispersed  about  the  grounds,  from  which  refreshments  were 
dispensed.  Upon  the  island  in  the  small  pond  in  the  centre 
of  the  Garden  had  been  erected  a  tower,  whence  fire  balloons 
were   at  intervals   sent   off,  while   within  the  tower  a  boy, 


99 


dressed  in  imitation  of  a  wild  beast,  caused  much  merriment 
to  those  around  by  his  fanciful  contortions.  Near  by,  a  large 
windmill  sufficed  to  keep  at  work  a  shoemaker  mending  a 
shoe,  a  man  sawing  wood,  two  men  grinding  an  axe,  and  a 
woman  churning.  A  large  camera  obscura  was  situated  in  a 
small  house  by  the  eastern  mall,  which  was  visited  by  many 
persons,  young  and  old. 

At  twelve  o'clock  the  children  joined  in  singing  numerous 
songs  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  band,  together  with  the 
following  original  ode,  written  expressly  for  the  occasion  by 
Dr.  Thomas  W.  Parsons. 

Call  us  early  in  the  morning  —  call  us  early,  mother  mine, 
When  the  sun  is  at  the  window,  when  the  bird  is  on  the  vine; 
For  to-morrow,  oh!  to-morrow,  of  the  year  's  the  happiest  day; 
Independence!  Independence!  July  Fourth!  hooray!  hooray! 

Children,  wake!    The  swallows'  music  mingles  with  the  morning  bells, 
From  a  thousand  hills  in  chorus  the  rejoicing  echo  swells; 
'Tis  to-day  that  was  to-morrow,  and  the  summer  sun  is  high; 
'Tis  the  holiday  of  nations  — 't  is  the  Fourth  day  of  July! 

Up,  my  boys!  the  bells  are  ringing;  flags  are  fluttering  on  the  mast; 
Men  are  shouting!  girls  are  singing!  Liberty  has  come  at  last! 
Set  your  merry  fountain  flowing!  spout,  old  Frog  Fond,  steeple  high! 
Hark!  the  gun^  are  gayly  going!  'Tis  the  Fourth  day  of  July! 

Boys  of  Boston,  think  of  Warren!  think  of  Bunker  Hill  to-day! 
Let  the  memory  of  your  grandsires  mingle  with  your  noisy  play; 
If  our  clime  be  bleak  and  barren,  yet  there  sliines  no  brighter  sky 
Than  the  God  of  battles  gave  us  for  the  Fourth  day  of  July. 

Not  alone  for  our  New  England,  not  alone  for  these  fair  States, 
Was  this  blessed  morn  created,  by  His  hand,  that  all  creates: 
When  the  last  oppression  faileth,  when  mankind  shall  all  be  free, 
Then  this  day,  by  every  nation, 'shall  be  held  a  Jubilee! 

Excellent  order  was  preserved  by  the  police  force  througli- 
out  the  Garden  during  the  day,  no  cigar- smoking,  firing  of 
crackers,  or  boisterous  conduct  being  allowed.  Including  the 
adults,  at  least  seventy  thousand  people  must  have  visited  the 
Garden,  thirty  thousand  tickets  having  been  issued  to  the 
pupils  of  the  Boston  schools  and  the  schools  of  the  neigh- 
boring towns. 


100 


Everything  wore  an  agreeable  and  pleasing  aspect,  and 
wlien  eight  o'clock,  the  hour  for  closing  the  Garden,  had 
arrived,  the  multitude  departed,  delighted  with  the  entertain- 
ment they  had  enjoyed,  and  regretting  its  termination. 

PROCESSION. 

Punctually  at  ten  o'clock  the  procession  was  formed  by 
Jonas  H.  French,  Esq.,  Chief  Marshal,  assisted  by  Assistant 
Marshals  David  F.  McGilvray,  J.  Avery  Richards,  George  S. 
Walker,  Nathaniel  C.  Stearns,  John  S.  Moulton,  John  B. 
Neal,  Abel  Horton,  George  W.  Forristall,  E.  P.  Wilbur,  J. 
Willard  Rice,  Micah  Dyer,  Jr.,  J.  B.  Parker,  Geo.  E.  Gregg, 
George  A.  Batchelder,  John  Prince,  and  Albert  H.  Lewis,  all 
mounted,  according  to  the  programme  published  several  days 
previous,  with  the  civic  portion  upon  School  street,  the  Fire 
Department  upon  State  street,  and  the  Internal  Health 
Department  upon  Milk  street.  The  procession  was  quickly 
formed,  owing  to  the  energy  and  exactitude  of  movement 
which  characterize  the  Chief  Marshal  and  his  Assistants, 
and  moved  forward  in  the  following  order,  a  detachment  of 
mounted  police  preceding,  to  clear  the  streets :  First,  the 
Military  Escort,  the  Boston  City  Guards,  numbering  fifty-six 
muskets,  commanded  by  Captain  Isaac  F.  Shepard,  and 
accompanied  by  the  Germania  Military  Band;  next  came, 
seated  in  carriages  to  the  number  of  fifty,  and  preceded  by 
the  Boston  Brigade  Band,  His  Honor  Mayor  Lincoln  and  the 
Board  of  Aldermen,  the  Common  Council,  the  Orator,  Chap- 
lain, and  Reader  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the 
Sheriff  of  Suffolk  County,  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  with 
his  Military  Staff,  State  functionaries,  past  members  of  the 
City  Government,  District  Attorney  for  the  County  of  Suffolk, 
with  other  legal  officers  and  the  various  civic  officers ;  then, 
preceded  by  the  Metropolitan  Brass  Band,  followed  the  Fire 
Department,  in  the  following  order: 


101 


Chief  Engineer  George  W.  Bird  and  aids,  mounted. 

Eagle  Engine  Co.  No.  3,  Captain  Edward  Millikcn,  34 
men. 

Cataract  Engine  Co.  No.  4,  Captain  E.  B.  Farrar,  42  men. 

Melville  Engine  Co.  No.  6,  Captain  Calvin  C.  Wilson,  38 
men. 

Boston  Engine  Co.  No.  8,  Captain  Benjamin  Tarbox,  43 
men. 

Warren  Hook  and  Ladder  Co.  No.  1,  25  men. 

Loud's  North  Weymouth  Brass  Band,  followed  by  Assistant 
Engineers  and 

Washington  Hose  Co.  No.  1,  Captain  C.  E.  Danton,  20 
men. 

Union  Hose  Co.  No.  2,  Captain  M.  A.  Thompson,  18  men. 

Dunbar  Engine  Co.. No.  10,  Captain  George  A.  Tucker,  32 
men. 

Barnicoat  Engine  Co.  No.  11,  Captain  James  H.  Gibson, 
41  men. 

Hall's  Boston  Brass  Band,  Assistant  Engineers,  and 

Tremont  Engine  Co.  No.  12,  Captain  Oliver  R.  Bobbins, 
40  men. 

Webster  Engine  Co.  No.  13,  Captain  H.  Weston,  39  men. 

[Perkins  Engine  Co.,  No.  1 ;  Mazeppa,  No.  2 ;  Extinguisher, 
No.  5;  Tiger,  No.  7;  Maverick,  No.  9;  Spinney,  No.  14; 
Franklin  Hose  Co.,  No.  3;  Chester,  Suffolk,  and  Deluge 
Hose  Cos. ;  Washington  and  Franklin  Hook  and  Ladder  Cos., 
Nos.  2  and  3,  for  some  unknown  reason  did  not  appear.] 

Next  to  them,  and  commanded  by  Foreman  Charles  Cutter, 
came  the  Internal  Health  Department  of  the  city,  to  the 
number  of  seventy-one  men,  mounted  upon  the  horses  owned 
and  worked  by  the  city,  followed  by  a  wagon  drawn  by  two 
horses  which  had  worked  for  the  city  the  greatest  number  of 
years,  in  which  were  seated  the  four  men  who  had  been 
attached  to  the  Department  for  the  longest  period. 


102 


The  procession  moved  from  the  City  Hall  through  School 
street,  Tremont,  Park,  Beacon,  Charles,  Pleasant,  Washing- 
ton, Oak,  Harrison  avenue,  Essex  to  Winter  street,  where  the 
Firemen  and  Internal  Health  Department  withdrew,  while  the 
remaining  portion  passed  on  to  the  Music  Hall,  which  they 
reached  at  about  half  past  eleven  o'clock. 

The  fine  soldierly  bearing  and  military  aspect  of  the  City 
Guards  gave  ample  testimony  of  the  strict  discipline  which 
they  must  have  observed,  and  elicited  the  warmest  commen- 
dations from  the  spectators  upon  the  route  of  the  procession. 

The  Firemen,  neatly  dressed  in  plain  but  serviceable  uni- 
forms, with  their  engines  gayly  decked  with  flowers,  made  a 
fine  display.  But  perhaps  the  most  noticeable,  as  it  was  the 
most  novel  feature  of  the  processiou,  was  the  Internal  Health 
Department,  the  men  presenting  an  excellent  appearance  as 
they  sat,  dressed  in  plain  white  frocks  with  black  hats,  upon 
horses  of  more  than  ordinary  size,  whose  good  condition  indi- 
cated the  excellent  care  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  efficient 
Superintendent  of  this  Department,  Ezra  Forristall,  Esq. 

The  four  men  seated  in  the  wagon  were  Robert  McNinck, 
in  the  service  of  the  city  26  years,  10  months;  Anthony 
O'Brine,  26  years,  4  months;  Patrick  Learned,  23  years,  3 
months ;  John  Curren,  21  years. 

While  of  the  horses  which  drew  the  wagon,  "Black  Jim  " 
had  served  the  city  twenty-two  years,  and  "  Old  Colt  "  twenty 
years,  and  both  seemed  still  capable  of  performing  any  work 
they  might  be  called  upon  to  do. 

After  the  procession  had  reached  the  Music  Hall,  and 
while  the  company  were  seating  themselves,  the  Brigade 
Band  performed  a  voluntary,  at  the  conclusion  of  which,  four 
hundred  of  the  public  school  children  sang  in  a  most  thrilling 
manner,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Charles  Butler,  and 
accompanied  upon  the  organ  by  Mr.  H.  M.  Dow,  the  chant, 


103 


*'  Oh  sing  unto  the  Lord  a  new  song, 
For  He  hath  done  marvellous  things. 
The  Lord  declared  his  salvation, 

His  righteousness  hath  He  openly  showed  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen. 
Show  yourselves  joyful  unto  the  Lord,  all  ye  lands; 
Sing,  rejoice  and  give  thanks. 
With  trumpets  and  shawms, 

Oh  show  yourselves  joyful  before  the  Lord  the  King. 
Let  the  floods  clap  their  hands,  and 
Let  the  hills  be  joyful  together  before  the  Lord; 
For  He  cometh  to  judge  the  earth. 
With  His  own  right  hand,  and  with  His  holy  arm 
Hath  He  gotten  himself  the  victory. 
He  hath  remembered  His  mercy  and  truth 
Toward  the  house  of  Israel ; 
And  all  the  ends  of  the  world  have  seen 
The  salvation  of  our  God. 
Praise  the  Lord  upon  the  harp; 
Sing  to  the  harp  with  a  psalm  of  thanksgiving. 
Let  the  sea  make  a  noise. 
And  all  that  therein  is; 

The  round  world,  and  they  that  dwell  therein. 
With  righteousness  shall  He  judge  the  world, 
And  the  people  with  equity.    Amen,  Amen." 

Prayer  was  now  offered  by  tlie  Rev.  Dr.  Lothrop,  chaplain 
of  the  day. 

After  this  the  choir  sang  the  following  original  ode,  written 
for  the  occasion  by  Howard  M.  Ticknor;  Esq. 


ODE. 

Fourscore  and  two  long  years  ago 

An  old  bell  rapid  swung,* 
Proclaiming  Hope  and  Liberty 

With  rich,  sonorous  tongue. 
High  heaven  the  great  vibration  felt. 

Far  echo  answered  clear; 
And  a  broad  land's  most  distant  verge 
Caught  up  the  tones  of  cheer. 
Then  to  arms  rushed  our  sires. 
Sped  the  cannon's  quick  fires. 
The  patriot's  sword  glowed  bright; 
From  strand  to  strand 
The  beacon  brand 
Waved  red  through  the  kindling  night. 


*The  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  first  made  publicly  Known  by  the 
ringing  of  the  "Liberty  Bell"  upon  the  State  House  in  Philadelphia. 


104 


To-day  from  steeple  and  from  tower 

Goes  out  tlie  chime  of  bells; 
Through  city  street  and  country  vale, 

Their  murmurous  music  swells. 
To-day  the  cannon's  brazen  throat 

Tours  forth  a  mighty  sound ; 
The  cattle  of  a  thousand  hills 
Start  from  the  trembling  ground. 
,  Let  the  clarion's  firm  blast 

Bear  the  fame  of  the  past 
In  full  exultant  lays; 
In  chorus  bold 
Be  proudly  told 
The  splendor  of  coming  days! 

Our  fathers  sowed  in  bitter  tears. 

In  joy  we  reap  the  grain; 
We  glory  in  our  ease  and  wealth  — 

Forget  their  toil  and  pain. 
May  booming  gun  and  pealing  bell 

Kemind  us  of  their  life, 
Prolonged  in  truth  and  honesty, 
Or  lost  in  Freedom's  strife. 
Then  America's  name 
On  the  records  of  Fame 
Shall  blaze  forever  bright; 
'Neath  every  sky 
Her  flag  shall  fly 
In  colors  of  fadeless  light! 

Mr.  Daniel  K.  Ford,  a  graduate  of  the  Boston  free  schoolS; 
now  read  the  "Declaration  of  Independence." 

After  "  Hail  Columbia  "  had  been  sung  by  the  choir,  with 
an  accompaniment  by  the  band,  John  S.  Holmes,  Esq.,  pro- 
nounced the  oration  of  the  day. 

At  the  close  of  the  oration  the  "  Star  Spangled  Banner  " 
was  sung  by  the  choir,  accompanied  by  the  band,  and  after  a 
benediction  by  the  chaplain,  the  services  closed,  and  the  pro- 
cession, reforming,  marched  to  Faneuil  Hall  to  enjoy  the 
dinner  which  awaited  them. 

Subsequent  to  the  exercises,  but  previous  to  the  departure 
from  the  Hall,  His  Honor  the  Mayor  addressed  the  children  in 
a  few  brief  and  pertinent  remarks,  alluding  to  the  events  which 
this  day  commemorated,  and  the  duties  which  their  remem- 
brance of  those  events  should  incite  them  to  perform. 


105 


After  the  address,  the  children  were  escorted  to  Chapman 
Hall  to  partake  of  a  collation  which  had  there  been  provided 
for  them. 

BALLOON    ASCENSIONS. 

The  Committee  to  whom  had  been  entrusted  the  duty  of 
providing  suitable  balloon  ascensions,  had  secured  the  services 
of  Mr.  John  Wise,  an  old  and  experienced  aeronaut,  and  his 
son  Charles.  It  had  originally  been  contemplated  to  send  off 
three  balloons,  the  "  Old  America,"  freighted  with  books, 
pamphlets,  letters,  &c.,  the  "  Ganymede  "  with  Mr.  Charles 
Wise,  and  the  "  Jupiter  "  with  Mr.  John  Wise.  From  some 
unforeseen  and  unexplained  cause  the  Old  America  burst 
during  the  process  of  inflation,  which  of  course  rendered  it 
useless. 

The  inflation  of  the  "  Ganymede,"  a  large,  orange-shaped, 
buff-colored  balloon,  holding  eleven  thousand  feet  of  gas,  was 
commenced  shortly  after  two  o'clock,  and  completed  about 
four,  when  Mr.  Charles  Wise  coolly  stepped  into  the  small 
wicker  basket  attached  to  the  balloon,  and  the  cords  being 
detached,  rose,  narrowly  escaping  the  trees,  in  a  north-west- 
erly direction  for  some  distance,  when  suddenly  meeting  an 
easterly  current  of  air,  he  sailed  over  the  harbor,  where  he 
discharged  a-  considerable  quantity  of  ballast,  in  consequence 
of  which  he  took  the  inward  current,  and  shortly  before  six 
o'clock  descended  safely  in  Maiden  Centre. 

The  "  Jupiter,"  a  balloon  similar  to  the  Ganymede,  except 
in  point  of  size,  being  capable  of  holding  twenty-five  thou- 
sand feet  of  gas,  was  not  inflated  until  about  half  past  five 
o'clock.  Mr.  Wise,  accompanied  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Committee  and  Mr.  Lyman  W.Brittan,  as  passengers,  then  took 
positions  in  the  car,  which  was  about  five  feet  long  by  three 

feet  wide  and  two  feet  deep,  and,  bidding  adieu  to  the  specta- 

u 


106 


tors,  thousands  of  whom  covered  the  Common,  started  upon 
their  aerial  course.  First  drifting  towards  Cambridge,  the  voy- 
agers rose  to  a  greater  height,  by  dispensing  with  some  of 
their  ballast,  and  floated  towards  the  harbor ;  thence  they  came 
inland,  and,  after  being  wafted  about  in  various  directions, 
descended  in  a  small  piece  of  woodland  in  Melrose,  at  about 
half  past  seven  o'clock.  Each  balloon  bore  its  name  painted 
in  large  letters  upon  its  surface,  in  addition  to  which,  the 
Jupiter  was  distinguished  by  the  motto  of  Mr.  Wise,  ^^ Astra 
castra,  numen  lumen.''^  Both  ascensions  were  entirely  success- 
ful, and  afforded  great  satisfaction  to  the  multitudes  who  wit- 
nessed them. 

FIREWORKS. 

Messrs.  Sanderson  &  Lanergan  had  been  engaged  to  fur- 
nish a  display  of  fireworks,  and  the  greatest  precaution  had 
been  taken  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  accidents. 

Soon  after  sunset  a  discharge  of  rockets  announced  the 
commencement  of  the  exhibition,  and  continued  imtil  nine 
o'clock,  when  they  were  succeeded  by  a  display  of  Protean 
fires,  and  a  flight  of  torbillons. 

The  first  great  piece  was  styled  the  "Reveille  of  Inde- 
pendence," having  the  word  "  Independence  "  conspicuously 
displayed  in  the  centre  of  the  piece  in  letters  of  azure  fire, 
while  the  discharge  of  shells,  rockets,  mines,  petards,  &c., 
presented  a  most  brilliant  and  dazzling  appearance.  This 
piece  was  followed  by  a  representation  of  the  battle  of  Bun- 
ker Hill  and  the  burning  of  Charlestown,  embracing  a  view 
of  the  redoubts  upon  the  hill,  the  attack  by  the  ships  and 
men,  and  the  final  burning  of  the  town. 

The  exhibition  concluded  with  a  piece  entitled  the  "  Liberty 
Cap,"  representing  England  and  America  connected  by  the 
telegraph,  in  the  centre  of  which  shone  conspicuously  the  first 
message  ever  transmitted,  "On  earth  peace,  good  will  towards 
men."     There  were  also  during  the  whole  exhibition  continu- 


107 


ous  discharges  of  shells,  rockets,  candles,  &c.,  affording  a 
constant  illumination.  In  addition  to  the  display  upon  the 
Common,  exhibitions  of  fireworks  were  also  provided  at  East 
and  South  Boston,  which  were  entirely  successful  and  closed 
the  public  celebration  of  the  day. 


3806 


BOSTON  COLLEGE 


3  9031   01119504  7 


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